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Riesman finds the mother who discourages serious interest in music because that might interfere with popularity and normalcy. He notes that youngsters rate many popular entertainers as "sincere," which evades the issue of whether their performance was good or bad; the child is afraid to make a judgment that will turn out wrong (i.e., unpopular). This prepares the children for an adult life in which they will imitate each other as "antagonistic cooperators," selling themselves sincerely on the basis of marginal differences in personality—sometimes in jobs where personality is functionally irrelevant. They will be tolerant because they do not much care, not because they understand the value of difference and individuality. They will be amiable, and often incapable of strong emotion or deep love. They will be compulsively gregarious—and lonely. Their play will be deadened by anxious groupiness. Even their daydreams (and this is most important to Riesman) will be flattened by anxiety about what "the others" think. He cites this excerpt from an interview with a twelve-year-old girl.
A. I like Superman better than the others because they can't do everything Superman can do. Batman can't fly, and that is very important.
Q. Would you like to be able to fly?
A. I would like to be able to fly if everybody else did, but otherwise it would be kind of conspicuous.
The Style of Politics. The niggling anxiety about "the others" that grounds personal daydreams also grounds social and political daydreams—the pictures people make of what they would like their society and their world to be. Riesman examines the U.S. political scene in terms of the "style" of politics rather than the content. He is less interested in the opinions people have on specific issues than in how opinions are formed and expressed, how people relate themselves to politics. His analysis of style throws considerable heuristic light on the political scene. The basic political style of the inner-directed is, as might be expected, that of a producer. Other-directeds do not think of themselves as producing politics; they consume it. Here are some Riesman types that illustrate political style:
THE MORALIZER (e.g., Gladstone) is the appropriate style of the inner-directed man when his type is politically dominant. He sees politics as a task, a way to further his interests, material or ideal. He has no difficulty relating his political goals with what he sees as right, with his "picture" of what should be. He thinks he can do something about them; usually, in his day, he could.
THE INDIGNANT (e.g., Westbrook Pegler) is the moralizer-in-retreat. He senses that this new world, no longer production-minded, is not his. He cannot connect with it through work, or clearly through interest. Often he hates politics. He rants and storms. Politically, his emotional effect is higher than his competence. He cares—or thinks he cares—but he is too out of touch to play a constructive role. His "picture" is out of date.
THE OLD-STYLE INDIFFERENT (e.g., Uncle Tom) in the U.S. is found mainly in the islands of tradition-direction. He has not rejected politics; he simply does not think it was ever available to him. He lacks the knowledge and the basic organizational skill to enter politics.