How Can We Break Our Addiction to Contempt? (Update)

Key Takeaways

Political polarization, fueled by contempt, has significantly intensified in the U.S., impacting national discourse and individual well-being.
Economist Arthur Brooks proposes 'love,' defined as willing the good of the other, as the primary antidote to political division.
Increased consumption of political media, especially social media and cable TV, correlates with both perpetrating and experiencing contempt.
Combating contempt requires proactive individual action, practicing warm-heartedness, and strategic communication to foster unity.

93% of Americans expressed dislike for political division in a 2018 survey.
U.S. Senate party unity votes increased from 42% in the 1960s to 83% by 2022.
Financial crises are linked to a 30% rise in populist party voter share for about a decade.
Contempt, a cold emotion signifying worthlessness, is distinct from anger and is easily adopted but often unnoticed.

Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and former head of the American Enterprise Institute, advocates using love to detoxify American politics.
He aims to 'make love cool' in politics, asserting people fundamentally desire love over hate.
Brooks’s 'latent demand strategy' is compared to entrepreneurship, suggesting his idealistic approach is morally and potentially popularly correct.
His book, 'Love Your Enemies,' frames contempt as a destructive force that must be identified.

Contemptuous actions lead to negative interactions and show no significant differences across race, gender, or political party affiliation.
Increased consumption of political media, particularly social media and cable television, correlates with both perpetrating and experiencing contempt.
While seemingly satisfying, contempt negatively impacts psychological and physiological well-being, linked to dopamine stimulation from addictive media consumption.

Love is identified as the sole predictor of happiness and well-being in the 80-year Harvard Study of Adult Development.
Love is defined as a verb, 'to will the good of the other as other,' rather than a fleeting feeling.
Contempt is generally a reactive behavior driven by the brain's habit-forming centers, whereas love is proactive.
To reduce negative impulses, one should manage love (the denominator) rather than solely focusing on decreasing contempt (the numerator).

Brooks transitioned from a French horn player with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra to academia, pursuing degrees at night.
He led the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) despite lacking traditional fundraising or management experience, valuing its scholarly integrity.
His book 'Who Really Cares?' suggested a correlation between religious commitment and charitable giving, gaining national attention after being cited by President Bush.
Brooks emphasizes that self-discovery requires understanding one's true desires, criticizing drifting into unfulfilling jobs.

A powerful strategy for billionaires to influence U.S. policymaking involves buying media outlets and creating a cable network.
Cable news is seen as primarily reinforcing biases rather than informing, helping to coalesce ideological movements.
Voter behavior shifted between the 2012 election, based on preference, and the 2016 election, where many chose based on dislike.

The Dalai Lama suggested practicing warm-heartedness to combat contempt, achievable through psychological techniques like mimicking a smile.
Brooks believes individuals can opt out of the 'contempt industry,' citing figures like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. who inspired change through personal action.
The COVID-19 pandemic failed to unite the country due to 'bad leadership' that used the crisis to divide rather than unite.

Brooks advises politicians to focus on a competition of opportunity based on the radical equality of human dignity.
Three strategies to combat contempt include defying media manipulation, actively seeking opportunities to show love, and practicing a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative communication.
Increased gratitude for American freedoms, like freedom of speech, is advocated over focusing on partisan threats.
Brooks notes that most politicians are patriotic and hardworking but face systemic issues and fear that lead to suboptimal behavior.