Harvard professor Arthur Brooks warned politics is driving Americans into depression and depriving them of their happiness, which ultimately stems from a psychological concept in which "bullies" have taken over the political system.
Brooks, who co-authored "Build the Life You Want," detailed on the "Brian Kilmeade Show" how some individuals in society are a part of the "dark triad," which consists of narcissists, psychopaths, and Machiavellians.
Normally, the 7% of the population that falls into one of the three categories are not rewarded for their behavior, and even avoided, but in some circumstances, these "bullies" can "take over the political system."
"A slow-rolling crisis that we've seen for American happiness is politics," Brooks told Brian KIlmeade.
"Politics has been driving us crazy, making us anxious and actually depressed, and part of the reason is because you have political parties and media telling people that if somebody disagrees with you, you got to cut them off. One in six Americans is not talking to a family member today because of politics, which is insanity.
"Family is one of the core parts of the happiness equation. You can't be happy if you start cutting family members off," he continued.
"The only reason to have a schism with family is abuse, and differences of political opinion are not abuse. This is appealing to ancient structures in the human brain that say, this is in-group, out-group. My people, their people. It's tribal."
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Brooks argued that communities, families and companies are either based on love or fear, a fact that he argued politicians can exploit to sow divisions within a family. This ultimately makes people miserable since family is a key pillar of happiness, he argued.
"Fear and love are opposites, and this is a biblical principle too, that perfect love drives out fear," Brooks said. "It goes back to ancient philosophies, and social psychologists understand this is true today. There are different parts of the brain."
"Fear and love turn each other off in the human brain, and so the result of that is that when politicians are using fear-based language to drive us apart, what they're doing is that they're… suffocating love that we have for our friends and family, and that's why we're lonely and depressed in America today," he continued.
President Biden faced criticism this week for what many called a highly partisan State of the Union speech that sounded more like a campaign address. Biden made 13 mentions of his "predecessor," accusing former President Trump of having a "dangerous" position toward Russia and Ukraine and threatening American democracy.
"This was the most partisan State of the Union I’ve heard in my lifetime," said Bill McGurn, who served as chief speechwriter for then-President George W. Bush.
"No outreach to Republicans, and the clear message was this: the era of big government is back, with a vengeance," added McGurn, a Wall Street Journal editorial board member and columnist as well as a Fox News contributor.
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Marc Thiessen, who also served as a speechwriter for Bush, argued Biden's speech was an "utter disgrace."
"Attacking his opponent directly in the first minutes of his speech is unprecedented and perhaps the most partisan start to a State of the Union address in modern memory," Thiessen emphasized in a social media posting.
Brooks argued that politicians ultimately "dehumanize" voters when they use divisive rhetoric that tears communities and families apart.
"When politicians use disgust-based language, they say that other person hates America. That other person wants to destroy your family. They'll make you feel disgusted and you'll have the same reaction. It'll hijack your brain," Brooks said.
"This is exactly what they're doing to us. They're dehumanizing us."
Brooks added that many Americans are now over-consuming divisive political rhetoric through frequent use of smartphones and social media platforms.
As Biden spoke, Trump put forth a steady stream of responses on Truth Social.
"He looks so angry when he’s talking, which is a trait of people who know they are 'losing it,'" Trump wrote. "The anger and shouting is not helpful to bringing our Country back together!"
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.
