Cheating, Selfishness, White Entitlement

I thought this piece made some interesting points:

Cryptocurrency is crashing. Prices for cryptocurrencies "have cratered since reaching all-time highs in early November, wiping out an astonishing $1.35 trillion in value globally, nearly half of the total market," the Washington Post reports. The whole thing had an air of a pyramid scheme to it. Media hype and ads featuring Matt Damon lured a bunch of ordinary people into the market, inflating the value of the already questionable currencies. Then, predictably, more professional investors got out, running off with their very real money while the rest of the market collapsed. But the story of cryptocurrency is about more than just a bunch of gullible people losing their shirts gambling with Monopoly money. Cryptocurrency mania is part of a the same social forces that created libertarianism, rising fascism, and Donald Trump. (Unsurprisingly, the Trumps are trying to cash in, unsuccessfully so far, on crypto.) 

It's all rooted in the overblown sense of entitlement held by a lot of Americans — especially white Americans, and especially male Americans. It leads them to believe they are above having to live with the same social contract that binds the rest of us. 

Millions of Americans have decided that they not only can, but should, cheat the system — even to the extent of having separate currency systems. The result is that social structures we all rely on are starting to get shaky and, in some cases, are already on the verge of collapse. 

(snip)

A whole bunch of dudes, some of whom are very rich and powerful, think there's a cheat code to every system. (snip) 

Having to do things the standard way, which requires playing nice with others, is for the little people. Despite the tech utopian spin, this mentality is not about "innovation." It stems from a larger rejection of the social contract that is reaching pandemic levels in American society. 

This is quite literally illustrated by the actual COVID-19 pandemic, which has spiraled in recent weeks due to so many ordinary conservatives refusing to get vaccinated. 

This started because GOP leaders and pundits believed it would weaken Joe Biden's presidency to convince their followers to reject vaccines. But the kindling that fueled the fire was the same sense of entitlement that is also fueling the cryptocurrency craze. 

Millions of people, especially white men and especially Republicans, are ready to hear that they're special snowflakes who don't need to participate in the same boring systems as everyone else — even though systems like vaccination require everyone's participation to work. 

It's the Aaron Rodgers/Joe Rogan/Tucker Carlson vortex of vaccine rejection. The three have varying degrees of right-wing ideology, but ultimately, all three tie their anti-vaccine rhetoric to this sense of white guy entitlement and a belief that people like them aren't constrained by the same biology and social obligations as everyone else. 

It's the same attitude fueling the demand for ivermectin and other "alternative" COVID-19 treatments. These snake oil treatments are the cryptocurrency of health care. It doesn't matter that they're useless. Their appeal lies in flattering the egos of those drawn to them, letting them believe they've found a way to cheat the system and avoid the same boring health care (vaccines) used by the hoi polloi. 

The most destructive result of this entitlement is both the election of Trump and his attempted coup, which continues to have widespread support among the Republican Party. 

From the very beginning, Trump's appeal to his voters was a promise that he knew how to cheat the system. This was an alluring promise because his base — conservative white voters — is rapidly shrinking in size and cannot hang onto power in a multiracial democracy. Rather than learn to compromise with others and share power fairly, they instead backed a man who claimed he could rig the system in their favor. 

Now, instead of graciously admitting they lost the election, most Republicans are backing Trump's false claims that the election was stolen. Only 21% of Republicans will now admit that Biden won the 2020 election. 

Could it really be that so many millions of Americans are that delusional? It's unlikely. 

Instead, the conspiracy theory is instrumental. It creates the justification they intend to rely on for the ongoing efforts to steal the next election. Like cryptocurrency or ivermectin, the Big Lie is viewed as a kind of cheat code, a way for Republicans to get their way without having to play by the same rules that constrain everyone else. 

The insurrection was a violent manifestation of this entitlement, which is why the people who stormed the Capitol seemed genuinely shocked that there were legal consequences for doing so. Criticizing and tweaking systems so they work better for everyone is a good thing. But that is not what is going on with modern horrors like cryptocurrency, vaccine refusal, and Trumpism. None of those are genuine attempts to fix existing systems. It's about "alternatives" for people who think they are above honoring the basic social contract. 

Systems don't work, however, unless everyone plays by the rules. As the cryptocurrency crash demonstrates, if you inject too many wannabe cheaters into a system, the whole thing will eventually fall apart.