THIS Explains a lot: Bob Altemeyer's - "The Authoritarians"

[Emit]

Bob Altemeyer's - The Authoritarians

The psychologist whose studies were highlighted in John Dean's book, Conservatives Without Conscience, at Dean's encouragement, has written his own book and has put it online for free.

OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches.

“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve believed this for years.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Introduction” link on this page?

Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.

~snip~

Don’t think for a minute this doesn’t concern you personally. Let me ask you, as we’re passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.

If, on the other hand, you’re way ahead of me, and believe the extreme right-wing elements in America are poised to take it over, permanently, I think you can still get a lot from this book. The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things they’ve done wrong, but why do the rank-and-file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?

I think you’ll find this book “explains a lot.” Many scattered impressions about the enemies of freedom and equality become solidified by science and coherently connected here.

You think I’m pulling your leg? Push the button.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey /

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the intro:

In turn, you won’t find a better example of authoritarian submission in government than
that displayed by Steven Bradbury, the Acting Assistant Attorney General in the Justice
Department, on July 11, 2006. At the end of June the Supreme Court ruled that the Pentagon’s
use of special military commissions to try suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay violated the
Geneva Conventions and the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice. Bradbury appeared
before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain what the administration was therefore going
to do instead. Pressed by Senator Leahy of Vermont to say whether President Bush was right in
his assessment of the situation, Bradbury replied, “The president is always right.” Is Bradbury
wildy atypical? Investigations into the December, 2006 firing of the eight U.S. attorneys suggests
that George W. Bush has placed hundreds of “true believers” in the highest levels of his
administration, many of them products of Pat Robertson’s Regency University, who put loyalty
to the president above all other concerns.

~snip~

This is the third time I have referred to George W. Bush, his administration, or his
supporters, and we’re only half-way through chapter 1. I am running a risk, in a book
I hope will have some lasting value, by anchoring it so much in the here-and-now. I’m
doing so partly because the here-and-now naturally appeals to contemporary readers.
But mainly I am doing it because the past six years have provided so many examples
of authoritarian behavior in American government. There has never been a more
obvious, appropriate, and pressing time for this discussion. The threat that
authoritarians poses to American democracy has probably never been clearer. It is just
a coincidence, but human affairs have provided the foremost example of how badly
right-wing authoritarianism can damage the United States at the same time my work
has come to an end and I am telling everyone what I’ve found. George W. Bush has
been the most authoritarian president in my lifetime, as well as the worst. And that’s
not a coincidence. Assuming democracy prevails, future Americans should know how
close we came to losing it in our day. “Those who do not learn from the past...”

http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/chapter1.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Chapter Five
Authoritarian Leaders

~snip~

Dominators aren’t usually afraid that civilization might collapse and lawlessness ensue.
Laws, they think, are not something you should necessarily obey in the first place, so much as things
you should not get caught disobeying. And as for self-righteousness, it’s pretty
irrelevant to people as amoral as most social dominators tend to be. They may speak
of the righteousness of their cause, but that’s usually just to assure and motivate their
followers. Might makes right for social dominators.

~snip~

http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/chapter5.pdf

[Marr]

1. Wow- this looks good.

Thank you so much for the heads up. This is a fascinating, and timely, topic.

[Emit]

2. You're welcome. I hope others get an opportunity to read it. n/t

[KAT119]

3. Just purchased "Conservatives without Conscience" by the great

John Dean--looking forward to "Authoritarianism"-- important to understand these bastards before their total fascism trys(and God willing fails) to put us in Citizen Detainee Work Camps run by FEMA!!!!

[Emit]

7. Dean's book was a good read -- very informative n/t

[supernova]

4. Scary how some people

display a fetish for following the rules.

[Emit]

5. kick n/t

[karlrschneider]

6. Thanks for this. Nominated, bookmarked and

:kick:

[InkAddict]

8. K&R

:kick:

[MisterP]

9. in the '88 edition he polled Canadiam soldiers that, if the PM ordered them

to dissolve Parliament and arrest MPs trying to enter chambers, over 80% responded yes. And this in leftie Canada, let alone the country where someone was arrested for wearing a "Peace on Earth" t-shirt in a mall in 2003.

[bonito]

10. Must read post!!! k&R bookmarked!

[Emit]

11. Here's an interesting discussion with Dean and Altemeyer from last spring on KOS

"The Authoritarians: Meet Altemeyer & John Dean Today"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/3/24/1469/68171

Dean and Altemeyer answering a lot of questions about their books, research, etc.

[Emit]

12. "...authoritarians can stupify you with the inconsistency of their ideas."

Seven deadly shortfalls of authoritarian thinking

Chapter Three
How Authoritarian Followers Think

... research reveals that authoritarian followers drive through life under the influence
of impaired thinking a lot more than most people do, exhibiting sloppy reasoning,
highly compartmentalized beliefs, double standards, hypocrisy, self-blindness, a
profound ethnocentrism, and--to top it all off--a ferocious dogmatism that makes it
unlikely anyone could ever change their minds with evidence or logic. These seven
deadly shortfalls of authoritarian thinking eminently qualify them to follow a wouldbe
dictator. As Hitler is reported to have said,“What good fortune for those in power
that people do not think.”

1. Illogical Thinking

~snip~

... High RWAs indeed had more
trouble remembering details of the material they’d encountered, and they made more
incorrect inferences on a reasoning test than others usually did. Overall, the
authoritarians had lots of trouble simply thinking straight.

~snip~

... authoritarians also have trouble deciding whether
empirical evidence proves, or does not prove, something. They will often think some
thoroughly ambiguous fact verifies something they already believe in.

2. Highly Compartmentalized Minds


... authoritarians’ ideas are poorly integrated with one another.
It’s as if each idea is stored in a file that can be called up and used when the
authoritarian wishes, even though another of his ideas--stored in a different file--
basically contradicts it. We all have some inconsistencies in our thinking, but
authoritarians can stupify you with the inconsistency of their ideas. Thus they may say
they are proud to live in a country that guarantees freedom of speech, but another file
holds, “My country, love it or leave it.” The ideas were copied from trusted sources,
often as sayings, but the authoritarian has never “merged files” to see how well they
all fit together.

~snip~

3. Double Standards
When your ideas live independent lives from one another it is pretty easy to use
double standards in your judgments. You simply call up the idea that will justify
(afterwards) what you’ve decided to do. High RWAs seem to get up in the morning
and gulp down a whole jar of “Rationalization Pills.”

~snip~

4. Hypocrisy
You can also, unfortunately, find a considerable amount of hypocrisy in high
RWAs’ behavior.

~snip~

5. Blindness To Themselves

If you ask people how much integrity they personally have, guess who pat
themselves most on the back by claiming they have more than anyone else.

~snip~

6. A Profound Ethnocentrism

... authoritarians see the world more sharply in terms of their
in-groups and their out-groups than most people do. They are so ethnocentric that you
find them making statements such as, “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us.”
There’s no neutral in the highly ethnocentric mind. This dizzying “Us versus
Everyone Else” outlook usually develops from traveling in those “tight circles” we
talked about in the last chapter, and whirling round in those circles reinforces the
ethnocentrism as the authoritarian follower uses his friends to validate his opinions.

~snip~

The ethnocentrism of high RWAs makes them quite vulnerable to unscrupulous
manipulators.

~snip~

You’ve probably already figured out that high RWAs generally do favor a
tough law and order approach to crime. And you know what? If somebody comes out
for that during an election, but only after polls show this is a popular stand,
authoritarian followers still believe him. It doesn’t matter whether the candidate really
believes it, or might just be saying it to get elected. High RWAs tend to ignore the
many devious reasons why someone might lie and say something they find agreeable.
They’re just glad to have another person agree with them. It goes back to their relying
on social support to maintain their ideas, because that’s really all they’ve got besides
their authorities (and one “last stand” defense to be discussed soon).

~snip~

7. Dogmatism: The Authoritarian’s Last Ditch Defense

... they have a dogmatic streak in them a mile wide and a thousand denials deep.

~snip~

... if the arguments against you become overwhelming and persistent, you
either concede the point--which may put the whole lot at risk--or you simply insist you
are right and walk away, clutching your beliefs more tightly than ever.
That’s what authoritarian followers tend to do. And let’s face it, it’s an awfully
easy stand to take. You have to know a lot nowadays to stake out an intelligent,
defendable position on many issues. But you don’t have to know anything to insist you’re right, no matter what. Dogmatism is by far the best fall-back defense, the most
impregnable castle, that ignorance can find. ...

http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/chapter3.pdf

[Emit]

13. Alarming stuff, folks. n/t

[Emit]

14. So, "What's To Be Done?"

Chapter 7
What’s To Be Done?

~snip~

The Short Run Imperative: Speak Out Now or Forever, Perhaps, Be Silenced
If they work, most of these suggestions will only produce changes in high
RWAs in the long run. But we may not have a long run. We have to contain
authoritarianism now lest it destroy us. We’ve got to act immediately.

... I took pains in my previous writings to present my
findings in a concerned voice, but I tried hard not to sound like Paul Revere. Here’s
how I put it in 1996 at the end of what I intended to be my last book on the subject:

“I am now writing the last page in my last book about authoritarianism. So, for
the last time, I do not think a fascist dictatorship lies just over our horizon. But I do
not think we are well protected against one. And I think our recent history shows the
threat is growing...We cannot secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves, and our
posterity, if we sit with our oars out of the water. If we drift mindlessly, circumstances
can sweep us to disaster. Our societies presently produce millions of highly
authoritarian personalities as a matter of course, enough to stage the Nuremberg
Rallies over and over and over again. Turning a blind eye to this could someday point
guns at all our heads, and the fingers on the triggers will belong to right-wing
authoritarians. We ignore this at our peril.”17

Eleven years later, as I am now definitely writing the last pages in my last book
on the subject, I believe circumstances such as “9/11" have nearly swept us to disaster,
the authoritarian threat has grown unabated, and almost all the protections I saw in
1996, such as a “free and vigilant press,” are being eroded or have already been
destroyed. The biggest problem we have now, in my view, is authoritarianism. ...

So what’s to be done right now? The social dominators and high RWAs
presently marshaling their forces for the next election in your county, state and
country, are perfectly entitled to do what they’re doing. ...

If the people who are not social dominators and right-wing authoritarians want
to have those same rights in the future, they, you, had better do those same things too,
now. You do have the right to remain silent, but you’ll do so at everyone’s peril. You
can’t sit these elections out and say “Politics is dirty; I’ll not be part of it,” or
“Nothing can change the way things are done now.”The social dominators want you
to be disgusted with politics, they want you to feel hopeless, they want you out of their
way. They want democracy to fail, they want your freedoms stricken, they want
equality destroyed as a value, they want to control everything and everybody, they
want it all. And they have an army of authoritarian followers marching with the
militancy of “that old-time religion” on a crusade that will make it happen, if you let
them.

more: http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/chapter7.pdf