Harrison Glicklich | Sore losers

Good Luck | Brexit and Tuesday

By Harrison Glicklich 11/06/16 9:25pm

I remember playing poker with a friend who had a particularly heavy emotional investment in the game. He would become raucous in victory, eager to dismiss any doubts once he was the tentative winner of a hand. Equally surly in defeat, he would raise every conceivable contention and wag his finger in a way that reminded me of the orator Goebbels. Redeeming personality aside, his continued participation ruined the game for everyone else at the table.

It is easy to dismiss a kid — if a college student is a kid — for being a bit immature, and “immature” is the best way to describe actions like these. Grace in victory and poise in defeat are hallmarks of maturity. Unfortunately, these virtues do not permeate other aspects of public life; politics in particular.

I was reminded of this player’s behavior in the uproar surrounding the success of the “Brexit.” Citizens of the UK voted, by small majority, to leave the European Union as a result of widespread discontent. In the wake of this referendum, I have heard a number of people say, among other things, that the citizens of the UK were misinformed, that the nation should bring the matter to a revote, that the vote does not represent the intentions of the majority of the population, that young people, Ireland and Scotland were overridden by the stogy, xenophobic and middle aged.

Correct or not, this kind of nitpicking amounts to being a “sore loser” in so many words. I do not claim to know whether Brexit will be good for the UK in the long run — recent reports dispute this — and the ramifications of the vote are not the subject of this piece. I want to discuss the response of people who see the vote and say, in a facetious tone, “See, this is why democracy doesn’t work.”

I contend that this kind of joke reveals a core of ugly sentiment. The above phrase is the sort of broad claim that can not be joked about without partial belief in its veracity. Consider that there are only certain people who make jest using racial slurs. Furthermore, people who dislike the vote’s outcome are the only ones making these “jokes.” The motivating idea behind this is truly insulting: “Democracy works when it does what I think is best and it does not work when that doesn’t happen.”

It is difficult to see this kind of conditional acceptance of democracy as anything but immature. Of course, it is perfectly fine to get frustrated with the democratic system. In fact, frustration is a good way to spur political involvement, which is the living body of a healthy democracy. However, politically removed onlookers are almost always the ones making snide comments like that one. This is because it is a statement of resignation, because it oversimplifies a complex issue and because it makes an enemy of ideology.

When someone makes a statement like that, they are communicating that their ideas, whatever they may be, are correct ones and that anyone with a brain would think the same way. This has significant consequences. When a person argues politics with the unyielding certainty that they are right, they contribute to attitude polarization, which hinders the ability to reasonably discuss sensitive topics in the public space. The psychology of, “I’m right, you’re wrong and nothing you say can change my mind,” can be found across the political spectrum and is becoming an intractable problem in American politics. It is amusing to note that a bigot is “A person who is utterly intolerant of any different creed, belief, or opinion.”

It is in the best interest of everyone to refrain from making comments like the one above whenever possible. These seemingly harmless statements perpetuate corrosive ideas, which is why I am calling attention to this insidious meme communication and why I want you to keep it in mind this Tuesday. Yet, in spite of this diatribe, I do not expect this behavior to cease anytime soon. It will linger as long as people keep making “wrong decisions” at the polls.