Relational

Some of the ways we get what we want in relationships are not sustainable. They work until they don't, but the point at which they lose effectiveness or even backfire is not always clear. Demagoguery mobilizes people, but it depends on fear and anger, which are aversive. It's like a Ponzi scheme; it depletes its own fuel, or at least I hope it does. There's no point to making the argument about how Trump voters would've criticized Trump's behavior if Obama or Clinton had done the same thing. What we need is to give leaders incentives to solve problems, not leverage and exploit them. The problem is, we have no consensus about what constitutes a need. If we could get fed up with being manipulated, and work to improve our understanding of one another's needs, we might make progress.