It’s there, for sure. I think it’s a specter haunting many modern societies, though. An authoritarian government can give easy answers for some, to the chaos of modernity. While many Americans don’t currently trust the state (thanks Watergate, etc), they do look to authority figures (god being one, the market and corporations being another, etc).
But that’s just because they perceive the government as being controlled by the wrong people (hint, it was the black guy they rebelled against). Once they get their guys in their, they’ll much more easily accept government authority (they worship Reagan, for example).
That also goes for the statehouses. If enough of them go or stay GOP we’ll continue to see cheating in terms of disenfranchisement and gerrymandering. Also, at the moment, the GOP is pushing through a lot of party-friendly judicial appointments and will keep doing do if they retain the power they have now.
If the GOP maintains its majority in Congress it sets the stage for Dolt-45 getting re-elected in 2020. If that happens it’s the end of liberal democracy in the U.S. and the beginning of the sham illiberal democracies we see in places like Russia and Hungary.
This sounds psychologically compelling. Nevertheless, my original puzzlement still remains. My generation and the generation before learned not to trust authority blindly, as was ingrained in future generations.
It is basically a trope in US pop culture not to trust authority. The rebel wins in the end, mostly.
Maybe a good part of the regressive backslash we are currently seeing is branding itself as rebellious against “the EU”, “the political establishment” and “the ruling elite” because of this?
That’s the thing, I think the (especially) boomer voters indeed do not trust authority, or at least certain kinds of authority. But that can also be a means of appealing to people, as Trump did, by running as someone who is defying some nebulous kind of authority. His supporters see him and themselves as outsiders. This book sort of describes the process of how that happens pretty nicely (I’m convinced by her arguments, at least):
I can’t recommend it enough for getting inside this seemingly paradoxical mindset of being the authority or at the very least being in very privileged positions, and yet claiming to be an outsider in our culture. We live in a world of subcultures now in America. This only speaks to the States, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a similar process in Europe (where far right groups DO seem to brand themselves as anti-establishment).
On a quick self-reflection, I think I know that feeling very well. I am incredibly privileged in some ways, however I’m also in a very tight spot in other ways.
However, I know what a authoritarian gouvernment means. We have seen this throughout history. And while I would most certainly be able to benefit from it in the short run, it is a catastrophe for others, and a terrible idea in the long run.
Me too. But as we moved out of lived memory of world war 2, and the rise of fascism 1.0, I fear we’re not going to have that moral voice warning us against it.
Indeed. Too many people are unwilling to see that, though. Because in the US at least, we’re very much awash in individualism, without thinking that these things have consequences. It’s never going to happen to “me” (meaning in general, not me myself), because that happens in the past and to others. That doesn’t happen in the hear and now. Or it happens in other countries, not here in America.
The midterm polling was always going to tighten, but I am increasingly concerned. If the Republicans keep control of everything I may do something drastic.
Unfortunately, for way too many of us “privileged” folks, this is where the analysis stops. Being able to see beyond the short term is not something we seem to be very good at in our current culture. It was not always so, and I have hope the ability can be rekindled, but I fear the degree of damage that will be done int he mean time.
If the GOP keeps both houses of Congress and doesn’t lose any statehouses on balance they’ll have two years to continue putting in place election cheats (gerrymandering, disenfranchisement, etc.) and continue to appoint highly politicised judges. That won’t guarantee Dolt-45 re-election in 2020, but I’ll take it a two-year warning and start planning accordingly.
