Saint Andrew on the Psychology of Authoritarianism

 





From Saint Andrew, Andrewism on YouTube, “The Psychology of Authoritarianism,” August 4th, 2021:

'But it only takes one person to start the opposition.  And that domino effect can influence even the high RWA’s, because it’s clear that they want to be “normal.”  In these bubbles and echo chambers, they don’t realize how extreme they are.  Mutual aid and other organizing efforts can show them the humanity of other people, finding common ground in common cause.

'Ultimately, in my view, the best long-term solutions require youth liberation and pre-figuration.  We need Youth Liberation!  Both at home and at school!  As long as we continue to teach children to blindly submit to authorities, as long as we refuse to grant them humanity and autonomy, we will continue to be without humanity and autonomy.  We will continue to have adults, generation after generation, who do not know how to resist authority.  We must pre-figure those relationships in our personal lives and social spaces.

'The only way to keep social dominators from seizing power is to pre-figure a system where no one person can so easily coerce and dominate.  To quote Bob Altemeyer one last time:

'“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.”

'Social dominators want you complacent, apathetic, hopeless, and out of the way.  They want to control everything and everybody.  They are not the majority, but they are determined to win.  Don’t let them!  If you know what’s happening, it is your responsibility to do something about it.  Organize and educate, because one person can accomplish so much.  And two people can accomplish so much more.  Good luck!'

Posted by Jennifer A. Nolan

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