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We generally assume that everyone wants a moral leader; people disagree about what and who counts as moral, but no one questions the goodness of morality itself. This assumption is likely false ( https://www.pnas.org/content/115/4/E592) and I suspect it's part of our problem. 1/5 https://twitter.com/AndyVonasch/status/1324061730972950528
It's why most narratives suggest that Trump's supporters either believe that he is moral (mistakenly, e.g., due to self-deception & conservative media brainwashing), or acknowledge his immorality, disapprove of it, and have other reasons for liking him. 2/5
But maybe Trump's supporters don't find morality desirable in the first place. Perhaps the problem isn't that some people deny or ignore Trump's immorality — it's that immorality is precisely what some people want. 3/5
If so, its no wonder we haven't gotten very far with op-eds, ads, and dinner table debates that aim to persuade Trump's supporters that Trump is morally deficient. What we need to do is convince people of the goodness of morality. 4/5
As absurd as this sounds (who needs to be convinced that morality is good?), I think it's a possibility we as social scientists need to take seriously. 5/5
