October is National Emotional Wellness Month, a grassroots effort since 2004, with a focus on everyday personal “balance.” Just about everyone could use some stress reduction prior to the contentious national midterm elections coming soon. Goals for the month include “processing feelings constructively.” Have politicians been informed?
UC Berkeley professor emerita Arlie Russell Hochschild carried out 7 years of ethnographic research on Pikeville, Kentucky, where the American Dream escapes most residents. The Fifth Congressional District of Kentucky — described as the “whitest and second poorest congressional district in the nation” — suffers incredible economic distress from job losses in the declining coal industry, with ongoing poverty and substance abuse as unresolved issues. In 2016 nearly 80% of voters chose Donald Trump. In 2017 a caravan of white supremacists rolled through town, looking to recruit members.
In her book, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right, sociologist Hochschild explains that Appalachian workers who experienced economic disaster tended to blame themselves rather than the “system.” Hochschild’s approach was simply to listen to those whose life stories infrequently make the evening news. She held compassion as participants shared complicated circumstances, feeling deprived of dignity, during extensive interviews. The painful sentiment of one individual asking, “If you’re white and poor…what’s wrong with you that you’re stuck at the bottom?” was echoed in similar wording repeatedly. Another version of stark economic stress was expressed this way: “If it’s such a privilege to be born a white male, what could explain me except my own personal failure?”
Hochschild explains that the Trump tactic redirected such internal insecurity and shame into external blaming of progressive voters and immigrants. Pretending to be a victim like the impoverished, Trump fueled anguish, viciously lashing out at non-followers; it struck a chord with many.
Co-creator of the Dignity Index, Tami Pyfer tested an 8-point scale in Utah during the 2022 midterm elections. The scale rates the language one uses when disagreeing with others. Levels ONE to FOUR reflect contempt: “Those people are ruining everything. Those people are evil.” Levels FIVE to EIGHT are “dignity” levels of the scale. For example, at level SIX, a person looks at things they have in common with others; at level EIGHT there is ability to see dignity in everyone.
Emotional wellness and dignity could change the U.S. political climate.
Hochschild found voters in Pikeville who worried about climate change. One pro-Trump Republican businessman pointed out a mountain where coal once was king, and told Hochschild, “I’d love to see solar panels and windmills on top of a lot of our mountains here.” Research from Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reports about 63% of Kentucky residents believe global warming is an issue; 70% favor regulating carbon dioxide. Nationwide, a majority of voters agree to curb the climate crisis.
Can we extend our common ground before it is too late?
Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz
544. How might you discuss climate change with neighbors?
545. What does having “dignity” mean to you?
