Weaponized Nostalgia A PG:CC with Thomas Zimmer

We know the conservative movement wants to return us to “a better time”, what they see as the “natural order”, with the white, straight Christian man on top, but even those who see themselves as liberal or centrist can struggle with the idea of changing the status quo, because it feels like a potential losing proposition for people who have always been at the top. That people who would be outwardly opposed to MAGA still feel uncomfortable with all these calls for equality and respect, especially when it’s perceived to question their judgment, or status in society. Nostalgia is a powerful part of the human condition, and it can easily become the filter through which every political, social, and cultural piece of information is absorbed. So if a political movement offers to bring back what has supposedly been lost, or at least keep us at status quo, it’s hard to resist because it speaks directly to the anxieties people have around the social and cultural change America has been undergoing over the past century.

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Guest social:

Website: https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/0033600001q9V3MAAU/thomas-zimmer

Podcast: Is This Democracy

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/is-this-democracy/id1652741954

Substack: Democracy Americana

https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/

Twitter: @tzimmer_history

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