This chapter will provide an in-depth analysis from the perspectives of social psychology, political psychology, and behavioral economics, examining why American voters—particularly the forgotten class (Chapter Twenty-Eight)—faced with long-term institutional failure and economic despair, made the “irrational” choice of preferring a destroyer (Trump) who promised to “smash the Establishment” (Chapter Thirty-One) over a traditional elite who promised to “repair the system” (Chapter Forty-Three). We will argue that this is a psychological inevitability in a situation of despair, not mere ignorance or foolishness.

First Thesis: Behavioral Psychology: Loss Aversion and Disgust with the “Status Quo”

I. The Extreme of Loss Aversion and Status Quo Aversion

The behavioral economics theory of loss aversion posits that people’s aversion to losses is far stronger than their desire for gains. Against the backdrop of the “Broken American Dream,” this psychology was pushed to an extreme:

Accumulated Losses: The forgotten blue-collar class (Chapter Twenty-Eight) experienced sustained economic losses (jobs, wages, community stability) and loss of social status (dignity, cultural recognition) over several decades. For them, the status quo was already an unbearable “massive loss.”

The Reversal of Risk: For those who had already lost everything, the risk of “maintaining the status quo” (the Establishment’s flickering return) was far greater than the risk of “change” (Trump’s destruction). The “stability” promised by traditional elites sounded to them like nothing more than “stable decline.”

The Inevitability of Choosing Destruction: When the status quo is perceived as negative and unbearable, any option promising to completely overturn it—no matter how uncertain its potential consequences—is seen as an opportunity worth taking. This is rational behavior in a situation of despair.

II. Psychological Rejection of “Promise Fatigue”

Traditional elites (Chapter Forty-Three) attempted to use old, moderate language to promise “prudent reform” and “bipartisanship.”

Overdrawn Promises: Over past decades, the public experienced repeated “promise fatigue”: every administration promised to solve problems, yet problems (such as economic inequality, healthcare costs) continued to worsen.

The Hypocrisy of Language: For desperate voters, the professional language and political etiquette of traditional elites were seen as markers of “elite hypocrisy.” Trump’s crude, direct, destructive language (Chapter Thirty), though lacking in decorum, was interpreted as “authenticity” and “willingness to act.”

Second Thesis: Social Psychology: Collective Anxiety and “Punishment Voting”

III. An Outlet for Collective Anxiety: Punishment Voting

Trump’s voters can be understood through the lens of “punishment voting”: their primary motivation for voting for Trump was not the belief that he would bring concrete constructive benefits, but to punish the Establishment system they believed had betrayed them.

The Targets of Punishment: Washington’s “Iron Triangle,” Wall Street financial elites, mainstream media (Chapter Thirty-Five), academic elites (the arrogance discussed in Chapter Twenty-Seven).

Emotional Catharsis: Trump, as an emotional symbol (Chapter Thirty-One), became the perfect outlet for this punitive impulse. Every vote cast for Trump was a collective, ritualized catharsis of anger (Chapter Thirty-Two) against the existing power structure.

IV. Injured Collective Narcissism and the Desire to Be “Seen”

Social psychology suggests that when a group (such as white blue-collar workers) feels its collective narcissism has been damaged (status and dignity marginalized by cultural elites), it seeks a leader who can restore its sense of glory.

The Trauma of Being “Forgotten”: The greatest pain of the “forgotten class” was being ignored and excluded by mainstream political discourse.

The Actor’s Mirroring Function: Trump as an “actor” perfectly played the role of “seeing and amplifying” their pain. He elevated their anger to the core of national narrative, making them feel once again that they were “real Americans” (Chapter Twenty-Nine)—a powerful psychological compensation.

Third Thesis: Political Psychology: The Collapse of Trust and the Desire for a Single Savior

V. The Collapse of Trust and the Desire for a Single Savior

The first two parts of this book demonstrated the overdrawing of institutional credit (Chapter Thirty-Eight) and the impotence of the Establishment (Chapter Forty-Three), causing voters to lose trust in all complex, decentralized, institutionalized solutions.

Rejection of Institutions: When people no longer believe that the system’s complex mechanisms (such as Congress, committees, professional bureaucracies) can solve problems, they turn to place all hope and trust in a single, all-powerful “savior figure” (Chapter Twenty-Nine).

The Appeal of Heroic Narrative: Trump’s “chosen one” narrative (that only he could fix everything) was appealing because it offered simple, clear psychological certainty: the problem was not a complex system, but a few “bad people”; once the “hero” eliminated these bad people, everything would be resolved.

VI. The Maintenance of Emotional Logic and Cognitive Dissonance

Voters’ choices are not driven entirely by rational logic, but by emotional logic.

Emotional Bonding: Once a strong emotional bond is established with the “actor” (such as through frenzied catharsis at rallies), voters activate cognitive dissonance mechanisms to filter out or ignore objective facts and negative news unfavorable to the leader.

The Consolidation of “Faith”: Media and judicial system attacks on Trump (Chapters Thirty-Seven and Thirty-Five) were instead interpreted by voters as “tests” of their collective faith, further strengthening their loyalty.

VII. Chapter Conclusion: The Historical Inevitability of Despair

The public’s choice to “smash the Establishment” is not an isolated, anomalous political phenomenon, but an inevitable outcome of institutional failure, social disintegration, and collective psychological trauma in a specific historical period.

The System’s Culpability: The responsibility for the Trump phenomenon ultimately lies with a system that failed to protect its citizens from the impacts of globalization, failed to address inequality, and failed to repair itself through its own mechanisms.

The Deepest Political Crisis: When voters prefer “destruction” as a form of political action, it signals that a nation has fallen into its deepest political crisis. This is an impulse toward “political suicide,” proving that the existing order has completely lost its legitimacy and appeal.

Therefore, to understand the normalization of division in the post-Trump era (Chapter Forty), one must understand this “psychological inevitability in a situation of despair.”

NEXT: Chapter 45: The End of American Exceptionalism — The Self-Negation of International Leadership