WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Flyover Features: Why Do People Have Election Anxiety?

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

The election cycle is fast approaching and plenty of people are anxious about the potential outcome. Why?

You're listening to Flyover Features on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Emma and I'm here with Sophia. And today we are going to be discussing an article from the Washington Post that it's pretty recent. It's called Harris voters are anxious about the election. Here's how four are coping. This is by Marissa Lati. So basically the whole idea behind this is that there are a lot of people who are experiencing election anxiety.

But one of the interesting facts about that is that it's mostly Harris voters, or at least according to this article. And so it goes into how some of the people who support Kamala Harris are going about dealing with this anxiety that they feel about the upcoming election. And it kind of gives a glimpse into their perspective and the gravity that they attach to the whole situation of the election. So this article is very interesting. I would recommend that you go ahead and look at it if you are able to access it. But yeah, Sophia, what did you think about this article? Well, it just sounded like one big group therapy

session where all four people were talking about their grave fears for, as we know, always a selection, most important one of our lives and how Trump is going to ruin their lives if he's elected. And it was just this feeling of fear and needing to release anxiety and ways they're dealing with it, such as by watching TV shows. Yes, that is one big part about it. Another thing that I think is really interesting is the fact that, number one, Trump lost the last election. And number two, the election is super close, at least in terms of the polls that we're seeing. So it doesn't really make sense that the Kamala Harris demographic should be anxious, if that makes sense. If the election is super close, it would make sense that both parties are equally anxious.

Yeah, yeah, that makes more sense. But Trump lost the last time. So it would make sense that Trump voters are more anxious about the fact that their candidate is, just given past circumstances more likely to lose the election. Yeah, it's just the subtle relaxation of the spirit when you hear the words MAGA and make America great again and the voice of Trump just must relax people or something. No, and in all serious, I don't say, actually, that's, it's very strange to me.

And I was talking to my dad, and my dad thought that Kamala voters would feel more strongly about their vote than Trump voters, a lot of them because they'd view it as a vote against Trump or against something. But I thought that was surprising to you because I thought there'd be Trump voters that'd feel intense about it. But I don't know. I mean like based on that one article, that's not true. Like he's my dad's right. Yeah. And Kamala supporters, not all of them, but a lot of them seem to define their position

as an opposition to Trump opposed to I really support Kamala. They're more concerned about just making sure that Trump doesn't get back into office. Yeah. Even the Twitter posts of white dudes for Kamala, they're all just like, we're voting against a man who wants to take away reproductive rights and stuff like that. They're not like, I love Kamala. Kamala is my beautiful love of policy or something. Well, that'd be weird to say too, but, you know, they aren't really echoing a lot of love for her specifically. I suppose you had the Kamala is brat, but that felt manufactured.

What is that? This extremely stupid, like, name for Kamala to try to make her sound cool that, like, some well-known musicians of the industry kind of also started calling her that. And it's like... They called her a brat. Doesn't that word just have negative connotations, though? It's supposed to, but I guess it must mean, like, I'm a cool, edgy Barbie girl, something. Which is just hard to see when you see her talk and sit and be with her husband. Like, she's...

Her husband? She does have a husband. Did you not know this? No, I mean, like, what, what about her being? It's not that their relationship's bad or anything. It's just that, like, like, you know, she's just like a married older politician. Like, she's not an edgy figure. You know, it's like it's weird for her to be described in that way.

Yeah, I guess. I think that one of the big things that people on the left have going for them is that they're able to try to portray themselves as some rebels or, Something like that. Something I really like about this article is somewhere, oh yes, somewhere down below a couple of paragraphs in, it says, The Washington Post asks more than a dozen people who expressed support for Trump for interviews about election anxiety,

but none agreed. So that's kind of interesting. I think there are a lot of reasons that someone who supports Trump might not want to do a Washington Post interview. Yeah, I do wonder if that's distrust from the media because that makes sense to me, although I will say deadlines, deadlines, those are always a thing. But like, if they really wanted Trump opinions, they probably could ask more than 12 people too. Yeah, and the other thing I wonder is I know that they can't disclose this because nobody actually agreed. But I wonder who they asked. Because my immediate assumption as a journalist is that you just go DM people on Twitter who tweet about Trump a lot.

Yeah. And ask them, hey, we're doing an article about election anxiety. Can you please talk to us? Although, I mean, if you're going after public figures, it honestly depends on who they asked. But they might not want to be discussing their, um, their, um, their, feelings and thoughts about the election. Yeah, well, the Washington Post is interesting because objectively it's more left-leaning because they actually, I don't know if you know this, they lost a ton of subscribers because

they decided to not endorse a candidate. And by that, I mean, they didn't endorse Kamala because Jeff Bezos or whatever who owns it was like, you've got to at least try to be somewhat more on bias than that. But because they didn't really take a stand, like they lost a significant amount of subscribers. So like solely because of the network or news organization itself, you're going to get more Democrat supporters. I do wonder if maybe they, you know, those who vote blue would not respond, for example, if like Fox News or News be guessed them the same question.

I don't know. It's interesting. Yeah, I would say that probably wouldn't happen. But I think the funniest thing is just reaching out to someone and asking them to share their feelings and thoughts about their anxieties. And it's like, this is kind of actually a little bit private. And it's funny because this is just, this entire article is just airing out in the open what sounds like a giant therapy session.

Yeah. And it's really, it's kind of funny. I'm not going to lie. It's definitely funny. Yeah. Yeah. I, it makes me realize I'm, I've gotten pretty zen over the years. I don't really have a lot of election anxiety, including if, you know, those I don't agree

with when. I mean, I'm not saying I think it'd necessarily be the best for the country that there wouldn't be problems. But I don't know. I just also am not going to be anxious about things that are outside of my ability to control them. Yeah, with this group of people, there's just absolutely no resignation to like what the outcome of the election might be. It's just like, I need to be stressed out about this. This is my civic duty. It's like, okay, you need to take it down a notch, you know, cool your ego.

They're not very stoic at all. They're the opposite of stoicism. But I mean, like, I don't know. No, seriously, I will say this. I know a ton of people on the right who are also extremely anxious. So I want to actually make that really clear. Like, I think it's just a big of a... I don't want to say just as big,

but I know a lot of people that are just always angry, always disturbed by the news. And it's like, you do what you can. You do what you can to help people and do what may help others and feel right. But just... I just... And maybe share what you think.

think is important to know, but I just don't think it's good or healthy to be mad about stuff. You can't, you have no control over. I mean, it's, I understand you can't help it. It's important, but just, I don't know, that's something people need to realize. Take a chill pill. That's, what's crazy is that most of my friends and I all support the same candidate. And we have not talked about the election in a really long time. Like, we cast our votes, stuff like that, but we're not, we're not sweating the election, you know, because there's really only so much that you can do. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I think there's some very good. So there's this thinker, he was a sociologist, fascinating subject, a very, very devout follower of God called Jacques O'Lule. He had some just excellent quotes that I found directly applied to this

and to you're all anxious. So I'll say some now. I might say some later and take breaks. I refuse to believe that humanity is making progress when from one year to the next among men and women I know whose lives I observe

and among who I live. I see to base the meaning of responsibilities. the dignity of labor, the recognition of a true authority, and the concern to live honorably, when I see them weighed down by worry about what the important people are up to, by the fear that oozes from our world, and by the hatred of a formidable phantom, that they never succeed in putting a name to, when I see them, driven by circumstances, and in pain, becoming thieves, liars, embittered, miserly, selfish, faithless, and full of rejection, or when I see them involved in a desperate struggle

from the depths of their hearts against what they do not understand. What they have seen for themselves does not count unless it is officially communicated and crowds have given it credence. A fact is false. It gets printed in a newspaper and a million copies.

A thousand people know it is false, but 999,000 believe it is true. What book is that from? That's from presence in the modern world and it's his book in which he advises how he thinks Christians ought to live in a world that is full of contradictions and in some ways it is impossible. So that's why he believes we ought to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. That is beautiful. Thank you for sharing that, Sophie.

Yeah. Yeah, I think that one of the big factors that sort of pulls people away from sort of reliance on God or just being able to resign themselves to their circumstances is the fact that these people are literally scrolling TikTok and watching a bunch of television. The first example, someone who lives in New York City, it says that they scroll TikTok all day and that brings them down about the election. And then to cheer them up, they go and they watch a TV. series. That hurts my heart actually. Just if you're struggling or you're just feeling anxious about the

world, just don't, don't feed into the negativity. It's just try to, it's not good. It's just so, it's so bad for your, for your health and for your happiness. That's, that's so true. And all the people who are scrolling social media, wondering why they're unhappy, I have a recommendation for you. How about delete the apps and try to go about your day without using any of these applications and see how you feel and do that maybe for a week or a month and see how you feel. And I promise you, you're going to feel better if you're not watching these like mentally draining, depressing TikToks that become popular because they make people miserable. Yeah, it's just don't spend hours of. a day reading the news when you have no direct impact or way to help. Just if you see someone struggling, help or you're angry about the problems of this world, maybe try to help someone

you see directly around you rather than some massless form of the state. You've been listening to flyover features on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm Sophia Mant, speaking with my co-host, Emma Verini. talking about how Kamala Harris voters are reacting to the election with great anxiety. So there's another point in this article in which one of the people who was interviewed says that she noticed that her son kept talking about the upcoming election. And he was saying, this many days to the election, this many more days to the election. and she was sort of wondering why her son was acting like this, and then she realized it's because she's been a stress case about the election.

And this is kind of sad that these kids are getting dragged into this issue, which they have no control over either. Yeah. Well, not to get personal, but as a little kid, I was from the right dragged into the culture wars. I was aware of some weird stuff as a young end. I knew about transgenderism before the kids started being transgender. And no, I'm not joking.

That's actually true. I, like, knew what it was when I was, like, six. That's unfortunate, yeah. It's kind of funny. Like, the public schools are evil. And then it's like, yeah, maybe there's stuff I don't agree with ideologically, but also, like, I knew about this stuff before you guys did. And they're like, well, it's better for us to teach you from our perspective than from the schools.

But it's also like, yeah, but, like, maybe you should give kids innocence for, like, as long as possible. too. I mean, in all fairness, like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Well, that's the thing. This is not just a left-wing issue, despite the fact that the writer of this article couldn't get many Trump perspectives. There are probably a lot of Trump voters and Trump supporters who are anxious about this election as well, and we're just not seeing their side of it. But I think this is a pretty universal thing. I don't think that this is just specific to Kamla Harris supporters. but it is upsetting to see that so many people are anxious about this election. Yeah.

And also I will say, I don't know if I entirely dislike the fact that I knew about weird stuff as a little kid because that's what I found interesting and then I was into weird stuff. And then I grew up and then I went here and then I was like, hmm, this is nice. You know what I'm saying? It was fun to read about really like esoteric, strange, scientific perspectives and their connection between morality and whatnot. I can't say that I did that as a child, but I... I didn't understand it as a child,

but I got some, like, strange books about, like, stuff like that that were actually, like, really interesting that I still own. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's upsetting to see that people are stressed. If you're interested by it, you know, of course, that is great, if that's your interest. But yeah, there are some kids who were just picking up on their parents' anxiety and getting super stressed out about the election.

It's so sad. I just want the little kids to be happy and to explore the world and be filled with love. Yes. I don't want them to be filled with anxiety and fear about a distant politician they don't know anything about or don't understand. Yes. Go have a Nerf gun war in your back. backyard child. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think Jacquesalul from that same book,

presence in the modern world has more to say about this too, especially from a Christian perspective as a Christian who I strive, though I know I also fail to be a light onto others. He says, our society absorbs all forms of intellect. Because our civilization is more than human, it becomes necessary to see that it is not constructed by flesh and blood, but by powers, dominions, spiritual princes, but nothing in our intellectual training prepares us to see and understand this. Our intellectual means are purely materialistic and completely inadequate for such deep realization. To be quite precise, there is only the intervention of the Holy Spirit who can transform our intellect in such a way that it will no longer be encompassed within our systems, and will be

adequately penetrating. Today, there is no longer any other person. possibility. Until now, the ordinary intelligence of human beings could suffice, but when faced with our civilization, all it can offer is the best of all possible worlds of Huxley's sort. And Huxley, that's referring to the man who were bravely in the world. He believed in this kind of vague, we should return to this transcendent order, but it was less specifically understood in practice than Christian principles that Jacques-Aulul thought were more necessary, especially because they're more penetrating at getting to the real nature of things. And he says that when Christians ought to have their special way of being in presence and light to

others, he says we must remember that the world typically presents false problems. People in their natural condition are incapable on their own of seeing the spiritual reality within which they struggle. They see only what appear to be social, political, or economic problems. and they try to work within this appearance using technical means and moral criteria. In such situations, the Christian's role will be precisely not to formulate the problems as others do, but to succeed in discovering the actual spiritual difficulties that any political or economic situation involves. As for the solution, it cannot be in any way based on calculation.

It can only be a way of life and the acceptance of a forgiveness for these sins too, granted in Christ Jesus. In other words, it is by living and receiving the gospel that political, economic, and other problems can be solved. Well, that's all we have time for today. This is Emma Verini, and I'm here with Sophia Mant. You've been listening to Flyover Features on Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.