Developmental Social Psychology and Giving to the RNC

The image above was from a powerpoint presentation given in Florida this last February at a Republican National Committee fundraising conference. It was not meant for public consumption. One of the attendees, so the story goes, left the graphic with 72 other pages of the presentation, in his hotel room, and it was found by a Democrat, according to Politico.com.

Somebody in the RNC knows something about the social-psychological theory of human development. You do too, if you ever had the opportunity to become acquainted with Abraham Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs. There are a number of thinkers within the fields of education, psychology, sociology and organizational dynamics who use the theory of adult development and levels of consciousness as the cornerstone of their works. My favorite thinker in this area is Dr. Clare W. Graves whose theory was later named Spiral Dynamics by his proteges.

Graves described seven levels that he could readily identify in the social milieu, and one other that he believed was just emerging but in such a small percentage in the general population that it could not be properly qualified or quantified. Briefly, the levels of existence/consciousness are as follows, from least complex to most:

Instinctive: Much like an animal. A person at the instinctive level is only concerned with survival. Very fearful.

Tribal: The world is composed of the tribe and everything else, and is controlled by magical spirits. Group oriented. Fearful.

Egocentric: The law of the jungle; the strongest prevail and opposition must be squashed. Individualistic. Fearful and very angry.

Traditional: The true believers on the one true path; mythic thinking; traditional, conservative and ethnocentric. Group oriented. Protected within its larger community of the like-minded, and fearful of others.

Mental: Manipulative of the rules for the greatest personal gain. Individualistic. Less fearful. Materialistic. Depending on situation can be ego-, ethno-, or worldcentric.

Egalitarian: More world-centric and pluralistic; spiritual but not religious; the greatest possible good, and compassion for all creatures, great and small. Suspicious of hierarchies. Group oriented.

Systematic: Sees the world more as an interaction of systems vacillating between chaos and order; can recognize the existence and motivations of the previous levels. Sees meta-patterns. Individualistic. Fully worldcentric, and largely fearless.

Holistic: Present with the underlying unity of the All. Cosmocentric and transcendent.

Note: Each successive level includes and transcends the previous. Each level can manifest itself positively or negatively in the individual. This is but a very concise explanation of the rungs on the ladder.

Now look at the heart graphic and take note of the phrases used: “True Believers,” “Membership,” “Patriotic Duty.” Those are memetic buzz words for the Traditional level. From there the graph breaks down to two sub-categories with specific suggestions of how to manipulate people into giving money to the RNC.

The first group is the one designated for direct marketing, presumably for small in masse donations. “Visceral Giving” says it all. The marketing is to be targeted at people motivated by fear–those who feel their way of existence is under constant threat by socialistic, baby-killing, tax and spend, hopey, changy liberals. Visceral givers are “stuck” in the Traditional level, though lower levels exact a certain amount of unconscious influence over them.

For the second group, under the heading of “Calculated Giving,” it is suggested that they are motivated to give by networking opportunities, access, fame and ego-stroking. That is a good working definition of the Mental stage in its degenerative state, still under the influence of the previous individualistic stage, Egocentric. These are the Randian go-getters, social darwinists and independently wealthy libertarians–the pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-damn-boot-straps, and don’t-ask-me-for-shit crowd. Think Daffy Duck in spats. They perceive all of the higher levels as being a whole bunch of wishy-washy pussies, and the lower to be herded like cattle.

The graphic also illustrates the odd relation between main street Traditionalist, and greedy Wall Street Mentalist. What the poor Traditionalist-Tea Partiers don’t seem to recognize is that their buttons are pushed by the power-hungry Mentalist-corporatists, the least likely group to extend a helping hand in a time of need.

The presentation was given by RNC Finance Director, Rob Bickhart, since fired by the RNC for various reasons. Mr. Bickhart’s understanding of the memes that motivate the GOP is eerily informed. Machiavelli would be proud, and maybe a little envious.

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