Jump to content
An Old School Catholic Message Board

The Rise of Trump and American Authoritarianism


PhuturePriest

Recommended Posts

PhuturePriest

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism 

Super interesting stuff. It's quite lengthy, so I'm reading it in small intervals, but it is incredibly fascinating. It is based on the research of two men who essentially predicted Trump's rise in 2009.

For years now, before anyone thought a person like Donald Trump could possibly lead a presidential primary, a small but respected niche of academic research has been laboring over a question, part political science and part psychology, that had captivated political scientists since the rise of the Nazis.

How do people come to adopt, in such large numbers and so rapidly, extreme political views that seem to coincide with fear of minorities and with the desire for a strongman leader?

To answer that question, these theorists study what they call authoritarianism: not the dictators themselves, but rather the psychological profile of people who, under the right conditions, will desire certain kinds of extreme policies and will seek strongman leaders to implement them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, PhuturePriest said:

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism 

Super interesting stuff. It's quite lengthy, so I'm reading it in small intervals, but it is incredibly fascinating. It is based on the research of two men who essentially predicted Trump's rise in 2009.

For years now, before anyone thought a person like Donald Trump could possibly lead a presidential primary, a small but respected niche of academic research has been laboring over a question, part political science and part psychology, that had captivated political scientists since the rise of the Nazis.

How do people come to adopt, in such large numbers and so rapidly, extreme political views that seem to coincide with fear of minorities and with the desire for a strongman leader?

To answer that question, these theorists study what they call authoritarianism: not the dictators themselves, but rather the psychological profile of people who, under the right conditions, will desire certain kinds of extreme policies and will seek strongman leaders to implement them.

Anyone who thinks this came out of nowhere hasn't been listening to Conservative talk radio for the last decade and a half.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PhuturePriest
5 minutes ago, Hasan said:

Anyone who thinks this came out of nowhere hasn't been listening to Conservative talk radio for the last decade and a half.

No outsiders in 'Murica!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trump 

the great all-American Boogieman

Who's afraid?

Edited by little2add
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting article. It links to this one, which I thought was good too:

https://newrepublic.com/article/130039/southern-strategy-made-donald-trump-possible

3 minutes ago, Josh said:

I find it disgusting how many racist white Catholics support this p.o.s.

No wonder there are hardly any black Catholics.

LOL. I think it has a lot more to do with immigration patterns. Most of our ancestors were brought to the US at a time when there were almost no Catholics living in the USA (and when there was a very strong anti-Catholic bias). We've been Southern Baptist ever since. . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, little2add said:

Trump 

the great all-American Boogieman

Who's afraid?

I know a number of Muslims who are genuinely scared. Maybe you should learn to have some empathy.

4 minutes ago, Peace said:

Interesting article. It links to this one, which I thought was good too:

https://newrepublic.com/article/130039/southern-strategy-made-donald-trump-possible

Yep. Chickens are coming home to roost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't the constant polarization in society that creates fear and mistrust so people look for authorities?

Afraid of Right Wingers?   A strong Federal government by Democrats is what you want to restrict them. 

Afraid of immigrants? A Federal government securing your border.  

Democrats want your money to feed the lazy.   If you're rich, you stole it.  

Republicans hate everyone except white males.  If you're poor, you're lazy. 

Murica is fat, dumb, and exploitive, though Cubans are dying to live here instead of where the government is supposed to pay for everything.     

We constantly talk in those terms alone.  Of course each side dismisses the other. When stoop to calling the other as stupid or garbage, you've also abandoned reasonable discourse in return.   That is where we are in the opinion diarrhea world we operate in now.  Why rebutt something with reason when a quip or meme is funnier and more powerful and certainly helps avoid listening.  

Edited by Anomaly
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Hasan said:

I know a number of Muslims who are genuinely scared. Maybe you should learn to have some empathy.

Yep. Chickens are coming home to roost.

The  San Bernardino  massacre  scared me 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, little2add said:

The  San Bernardino  massacre  scared me 

Ok? So that means you can be a d*** to people who had nothing to do with it?

Edited by Hasan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Hasan said:

Ok? So that means you can be a d*** to people who had nothing to do with it?

I know a number of Christians who are genuinely scared. Maybe you should learn to have some empathy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, little2add said:

I know a number of Christians who are genuinely scared. Maybe you should learn to have some empathy.

Who says I don't? You can't even keep straight whose said what in this argument. I didn't dismiss people's fear of domestic terrorism as you did people's fear of Trump.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 You can't even keep straight whose said what in this argument. Ii didn't dismiss people's fear of domestic terrorism as you did people's fear of Boogiemen

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...