People bluff the opposite of the hand they’re holding
People tend to bluff the opposite of whatever hand they’re holding; newbies do it in poker, and everyone does it with their ego. Conservatives are afraid of everything, so they posture as hypermasculine tough guys. Liberals are bootlickers who act like heroes of social justice.
You see this dynamic everywhere, on the personal level as well as political. The person who feels small acts big. The person who feels dumb acts like a know it all. You see some bloke acting like he’s better than everyone else and think “That guy needs to be brought down a few pegs,” but really he’s only doing that because he feels inferior to everybody; you can’t bring him down any lower than he’s already brought himself. They’re all just bluffing the opposite of the hand they believe they’ve been dealt. —Caitlin Johnstone, Trump Is Bombing Yemen For Israel
- previously: trust is a very simple thing
- see also: US exceptionalism is abusive narcissism because it thrives on all of those bluffs
- related: how to beat a manipulator — watch their actions, not their words