In a hyper-individuelistic society where everyone is constantly being compared and judged, the feeling that you’re better than everyone else brings incredible relief. Of course the concept of being better than others is deeply flawed but you never learned to question these things. So how do you achieve the feeling? Study hard, lift others around you, save your money. Sure, but that takes years, and it’s hard work. So what if you’re inherently better than others-- that solves it. Race, language, gender, nationaliry… All things that cost you no effort. There’s another shortcut to these feelings. All you have to do to in order to become better than most of the population and get into to heaven is say that you believe the Bible. That’s it. Just gotta say you believe it and you’re in the club. Zero effort, all the dopamine. Supporting some sports team. Buying a particular car. Using what you buy to signal to others something about you. Bumper stickers, adding a ribbon to your profile picture, posting some cringe on LinkedIn, attention seeking on your birthday… All attempts to showcase how excellent you are with minimal effort.
So if your entire sense of self worth is based on attributes about you which you were either born with or cost you no effort, you’ll want to support anyone who places importance on those things. Nationality, consumerism, race, gender, religion, etc.
“Cops search for hero to give him cash reward”
“Anonymous karma donor refuses to reveal himself”
“Colossal POS whacked, nobody sad, cash reward less than what the guy wiped his ass with, America united”