Delegate Sam Rasoul (HOD-11) is a nerd (but in a good sort of way) — and when that sort of nerdishness has real-world applications?
Awesome occurs.
To wit, Rasoul has penned a rather nerdy awesome op-ed for the Roanoke Times [1], where he describes the politics of fear as the politics of the lazy — and in fact, a pre-programmed fight-or-flight response:
The impulsive root of these feelings stem from the oldest part of our brain. The amygdala controls our fight or flight response, which helps us to recognize threats, therefore protecting us. This first line of defense in our brain is strong, but can also prevent us from digging deeper to find out more about an unfamiliar situation. Being self-aware of our own neuroscience helps humans to channel more productive thoughts such as “not all Republicans are bad” or “maybe I am only feeling this way because he is black.”
Pushing our minds to think beyond those initial barriers is hard work, whereas hate is lazy. When a politician uses fear to breed hate to drive her/his message, it is a lazy way to galvanize support. We know building a movement through collaboration using empathy and compassion takes a lot of effort. “Donald Trump is going to destroy America” or “Hillary is corrupt” are lazy ways to appeal to primitive parts of the brain to scare a voter.
Now laziness might compel you to not read the article. Laziness might also compel you to say “bah… Rasoul is a Democrat… why bother?”
Fight that impulse. Read it all.