Mariann Sullivan

I promise I am not going to write yet one more piece for those who hate Trump as to why I think so many people like him. Or at least why they vote for him. I honestly find most people very perplexing, even about much smaller issues, and I’m really not the one to figure this out. But one thing that seems obvious is that Trump, like all con men, and all leaders, finds a way to tell people what they want to hear. That’s what people want. They want confirmation.

I’m sure, like me, many of you have heard the expression “motivated reasoning” and seen discussion of its likely role in psychological defenses of meat-eating and other forms of participation in animal abuse by people who think they care about animals. But, recently, I’ve seen a number of references to “motivated ignorance” and it seems in some ways to better express whatever it is that goes on in many people’s minds when they sit down to a steak. Exes & Oh!s is a reader-supported publication.