The Psychology of Politics

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The importance of federal nutrition programs and the people who benefit

It was a weird feeling to be volunteering at a food drive on the same day that President Trump paused funding with the potential to impact key food programs in the country. Someone I was volunteering asked, “what do you make of it?” 

“They just don’t fucking get it,” I said. 

The administration claims that it won’t impact federal nutrition programs, but federal nutrition programs have long been in the crosshairs of republicans as a way to reduce government spending. 

The organization I volunteer with recovers food that would’ve otherwise ended up in a landfill. Perfectly good food like organic blueberries, oranges, apples, frozen tilapia, walnuts, canned salmon and tuna, the list goes on. All this food gets redistributed to people in need. If it were not for We Don’t Waste and other organizations like it, all of these items would end up in the trash, and millions more people would end up hungry. 

At least 50 percent of food in this country ends up in landfills. At least 60 million people are food insecure (a number that I personally believe to be extremely under reported).

The people who attend our food drives are a diverse group. Young and old. Americans and immigrants. Able bodied and not. Every ethnicity under the sun. Mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents. People wait for hours to receive food. Mothers wait in the heat or the cold holding their children. Grandparents wait to get food for their families while their children work. 

This diverse demographic isn’t unique to this organization. It’s been the same across all the organizations I’ve volunteered with. People of all walks of life are hungry, they are struggling, they need food, the same way WE ALL NEED FOOD. Knowing that they have a place to get food eases the burden of their stress just a slice.

It’s a strange thing to think that these people are just trying to “game” the system. I don’t know about you, but if I go to the grocery store and a line builds up in front of me and there’s no extra cashier in sight, I start to get angry. Why do I have to wait at all just to check out? Open another lane!

Here these people wait in line for hours at times. Trying to find shade from the Colorado sun, or keep warm in the frigid winter temperatures. Just to get some food. Completely unsure of what they might get, because every week it’s different. What’s available is dependent on what’s donated by the local vendors. And that varies from week to week. So I find it hard to believe that if they had the option to go to the grocery store that they would choose to wait here, outside, for an unknown. 

They are also the most grateful people. They are constantly thanking us. One young kid even shook my hand today as a gesture of his appreciation for us being there. They are also the most considerate people. Constantly declining food when they already have enough. 

“O no, I already have plenty of rice.”

“We have a lot of macaroni and cheese already in the house.”

“Take as many apples as you want. Do you want more?” I asked someone today. “No, there are more people in line, leave it for them,” was the reply I got.

This notion that these people are not actually in need. That they are gaming the system. That they are not worthy of the most basic and fundamental resource, is an idea that could only be considered by someone who has never seen it in person. 

It can only be considered by someone who just doesn’t fucking get it. 

Tell your lawmakers to visit a food bank and see if it doesn’t change their mind. Only a cold hearted person wouldn’t.

Political Psychology

Maybe they should ban TikTok

I’ve thought it was a bad idea from the beginning, but I think I’m starting to come around to it. They claim the reason is because of Chinese influence on our society, and because China is collecting data on US citizens that could be used against us. But that’s not the real reason and we know it (at least some of us do). As the lawyer for TikTok accurately pointed out, if that really was the reason, then why are other Chinese owned companies that also collect user data still allowed to exist?

It’s like this excerpt from an article I read recently about why the US placed a $15 million bounty on Venezuela’s President Maduro. The US claims it’s because he’s been involved in trafficking cocaine into the US for the last 20 years, costing lives and ruining communities. But as the author accurately points out, that’s not the real reason. 

“If the United States were genuinely concerned about democracy and human rights, Venezuela wouldn’t even make the top ten of their hit list. If it were about promoting democracy or protecting human rights, they’d be placing bounties on the heads of Saudi Arabia’s royal family or Israel’s prime minister.“

No they want to ban TikTok because they don’t have control over censoring it the way they do Instagram and FaceBook, or the way they used to have control over Twitter (now X), before Elon Musk bought it. Or the way they have control over the narrative the news spins. “COVID misinformation,” most of which turned out to be true, spreading across TikTok is what started it, and now its about censoring the reality of the brutal atrocity that Israel, backed by US weapons and money, is carrying out in Gaza, and about squashing opposition to the US support for Ukraine.

But here’s why I’m coming around to the idea. Because maybe a ban on TikTok will lead to a ban of Instagram, FaceBook, X, BlueSky, Truth Social, pick your poison. Whichever platform you rationalize using. Maybe a ban on one, will mean a ban for all, and we can all start getting our lives back. People can stop endlessly scrolling at dinner, or while they’re crossing the street, or while they’re supposed to be working. They can stop looking at shit they don’t care about, and obsessing over things that don’t impact them. Maybe they’ll stop having their minds infected with things that don’t actually matter, and they can focus on what does. They’ll finally be able to get away from things that are just there to trigger their nervous system, to make them angry, and instigate a response. Maybe if we eliminate one, we can eliminate them all, and everyone can pick their heads up long enough to see what is actually happening around them.

Yes I could be in favor of a TikTok ban if it means all of social media goes away. I think we were doing just fine when it was just the internet. And I think if we can get back there it will transform the population. I know it will never happen, but this TikTok ban has got me dreaming.

Trump

I hate Trump for all the reasons that anyone who hates Trump hates Trump. But I also admire him.

I admire him for his willingness to break away from the conventional. To a lot of people they see this and think “he’s a criminal.” Maybe. I don’t know.

But what I do know is that he figured out how to come into the Republican Party as a complete outsider who many people despised and never wanted to see him win, and he won.

Now, during the Republican primaries he’s refusing to debate. It’s pissing a lot of people off who want to see him on the stage. And it’s pissing off the other candidates who want the opportunity to debate him (or at least they say they do). But the reality is, as annoying as it might be, as pompous as it might seem, and as unconventional as it is, it is the reason I also appreciate it.

He’s figured out that Republican debates (any debates) are meaningless and ineffective. He’s realized that he can make better use of his time by holding a rally, and taking 3 hours to deliver his message to people who want to hear it, instead of sharing 3 hours arguing to make a point.

Winning sometimes requires breaking the mold and being unconventional. And while some of his methods might appear “unethical” or “immoral” (the courts will decide) the take away is that, to win, and disrupt an industry (two party politics), you need to be willing to take risks and piss a few people off.