Games and American Politics

In his 1964 book, "Games People Play", , Psychiatrist Eric Berne identified several life scripts people "play" as, "Games". This book is a fascinating read once you start reading about the actual "Games", recognizing yourself and others as playing in select games. You can read about some of them here: Games People Play 

The reason Berne called what we do, "Games", is because we play games our whole life. We learn our first games in infancy from our parents, and learn other games as we grow older. Some games are played by only one person, others need a group of like players to be successful. Think of party games (discussions) people play when they group up, each in their own part of the room.

One interesting 'Game', Berne identified is named, "If it weren't for Him". If it weren't for Him, is a Game which until [relatively] recently was played mostly by women. An encapsulated version goes like this:

Young Women who are unconsciously scared of participating in the adult world find mates who are controlling and possessive. This way people can blame everything the Woman  does not do on her Husband. The Husband will not let them do those things most Women do every day. Think work, window shopping, and coffee clutches.

From an outsiders point of view, it appears the Husband is a jealous control freak who refuses to let the oppressed Wife do anything that, "takes her away from home". In the unconscious "Oppressed" Woman's mind, the Husband, "relieves" the woman from doing anything she feels uncomfortable doing. For example working, having a social life, and so on.

Politicians have adopted, "If it weren't for Him",  as their most favorite game. No matter which party is the Dominant Party after an election, nothing changes. For example, during the eight year Republican control of the Presidency, Senate and House, nothing really changed during that eight year reign. Vis a Vis when Democrats are in almost total control, nothing much changed.

Both Political Parties claim, "If not for the Democrats/Republicans blocking our legislation, we could do great things for America. The political form of the game, "If not for him", is always in full operation. Think about this for a minute and see if you agree.

Senators and House Members each play their part to ensure the 'Other Party' does not pass any meaningful legislation - unless public opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of it. Then the Political Machine is forced to act together or risk losing their jobs.

Most of the time however, Political Party Leaders and charismatic party members stand up and basically state and restate, 'We want to pass this legislation, but the other party opposes our legislation, stonewalling us', or something to to that effect.

This favorite game mostly played by Women for thousands of years is cemented in place as a favorite  political game, "If not for the, "Other Party"". Politicians also play other variations of this game. Other variations such as, "If there was only enough money", "only enough time in the legislative session", are also political favorites across the board.