General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo one-third of Americans really want an autocratic government,
or are they just too ignorant to know what an autocratic government is?
roamer65
(36,744 posts)They want everything done for them.
Statistical
(19,264 posts)They assume "their" fascist government will be good to them. They are likely wrong but won't realize that until it is too late.
They like authoritarianism, because they need a daddy to protect them and tell them what to do. They just don't understand that Daddy hates them as much as he does all the people they, themselves hate. Daddy even came out and said he doesn't want to shake their hands because he thinks they're disgusting. They just don't think he's talking about them. They're in for a rude awakening.
DBoon
(22,337 posts)They believe authority should always be obeyed, that dissent is treason, that people who do not conform should not be allowed in society, that empathy is weakness and cruelty is good
I believe it stems from an abusive upbringing coupled with authoritarian religions. Parents who strike their children for "talking back" create this. Pastors who yell out that their congregants are going to hell for questioning any tenant of the bible.
Thekaspervote
(32,689 posts)They would be the ones that would shout the loudest when things they want are taken away
LakeArenal
(28,791 posts)Deplorables that like exerting strength over sense or science.
To think Limbaugh was given a Medal of Freedom and then fight to ignore RBG.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)Mz Pip
(27,430 posts)and authoritarians. People love their authoritarians, as long as hes their authoritarian.
cilla4progress
(24,709 posts)no passions or interests. No ambition or curiosity. They are shallow and dim.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,864 posts)And sticking it to those awful libs.
They haven't even considered what this great government under Trump will mean for their future, for the economy , for the environment.
They have found something to put excitement into their evrryday borIng lives.
MineralMan
(146,248 posts)They do not think beyond the next shopping trip.
jalan48
(13,836 posts)American Revolution. Some folks are wired to want authoritarian rule.
Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)kurtcagle
(1,601 posts)This is oversimplified, and you can argue with a lot of justification that MB is a form of pseudoscience, but the classification labels are a useful shorthand for personality types.
Trump is an ESFJ. Extroverted, highly aware of social approval/disapproval, very much inclined to trust feelings rather than facts, and judgmental. His followers are mostly the same, or are in the general *S*J group.
SJ Population Statistics
Personality Type Population Male Female
ESTJ Overseer 13% 16% 10%
ESFJ Supporter 12% 7% 17%
ISTJ Examiner 8.5% 10.5% 6.5%
ISFJ Defender 7% 4% 10%
All SJs 40.5% 37.5% 43.5%
Note that collectively, SJs make up around 40% of the population, with the bulk of that in the ES*J block. Does that number look familiar?
These are the types that are most likely to both become autocrats and to follow them. Collectively, they see the world as Us vs. Them, with very little gray in it, they have trouble dealing with abstractions but are easily influenced by symbols that determine group boundaries and allegiences, work best when they not only know their place in the world but also know where other people are relative to them in the social ladder (preferably below), and usually have an "I've got mine" attitude regardless of what they actually have.
They are not concerned about fairness, because fairness implies equality and their worldview is implicitly not equal. They view Democracy, the concept, as something abhorrent, because it assumes that they aren't privileged in some manner. It's one of the reasons they see nothing wrong in gerrymandering, voter supression and so forth. In their view, too many of the hoi poloi are allowed to vote, and that just can't be allowed to stand.
Their biggest fear, in fact, is that should those pesky liberals regain power, the *SFJ block will no longer be calling the shots, and they will lose their perceived privileged positions. They want autocracy, but they want THEIR autocracy.
grumpyduck
(6,220 posts)I've seen this before, but didn't pay much attention to it. However...
-- Us vs them: That is so obvious in so many cases. "if you're not with me you're against me."
-- Influenced by symbols: The swastika was a perfect example. Lack of imagination?
-- Know their place in the world and being above others. "We're right and you're wrong."
-- "I've got mine:" Entitlement. I see this all the time just driving down the street or on a highway.
And then there's the Dunning-Kruger effect:
In the field of psychology, the DunningKruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence.
I've seen this one a lot in the workplace, especially among management types, and it's a bear to deal with.
And then there's that little label we used back in grammar school: inferiority complex. You feel inferior, so you act superior.
Man, it's scary.
ooky
(8,905 posts)They are highly gullible people who are lied to 24-7 by Fox News, who tell them that Trump is a highly accomplished President who keeps them free and safe and employed and that Covid isn't any more dangerous than the flu. They are told that all news is fake except Fox News. They are told that liberals are the evil people of their father, "the Devil", who are socialists who want to turn America into Cuba and enslave them in work camps. When they leave their TVs they go to their white evangelical churches who tell them that Trump was obviously chosen by God and to vote for him until Jesus comes back to gather all the good people, like them, and they all fly away with him. They exist in a bubble that is literally a different world than you and I live in.
Calculating
(2,955 posts)They crave an authoritative daddy figure to tell them everything to do.
SMC22307
(8,090 posts)refer them to Trump's MAGATs. It's depressing.
moondust
(19,956 posts)But they apparently liked the feeling and privileges they got from being part of the "superior" race.
Sometimes tribalism "trumps" knowledge and reason.
Why did women vote for Hitler?