Meanwhile, 44 percent backed the American tradition of competing branches of government as a model, if sometimes “frustrating,” system.

Why would people want to live under an authoritarian’s thumb? It’s rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security—real or perceived—and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group—especially if it is the “right” group whose interests will be protected. Recall the Trump supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

  • vegeta@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    “No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero [Dictator]”

    Pardot Kynes

    • NABDad@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It’s more than that, but some of them accidentally believe that democracy is good.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      You can pretty much ask almost any insane thing and it somehow always comes out to at least 30% of Americans.

      I sometimes wonder if it’d always the same 30% and there just 30% idiots, or if that 30% spans multiple topics and groups of idiots and its actually higher like 60%

      • candybrie@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I wonder if it’s something like 25% of survey respondents are just picking the most outrageous thing and 5% actually believe that way. I remember a while ago on a survey about being ok with political violence, they tried to control for that kind of thing and it dropped the numbers a lot.

    • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      The nation built on native American burial grounds using slavery didn’t work out? Say it ain’t so!

  • aseriesoftubes@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I read some research somewhere that found that about a third of the people in any given country are authoritarian shitheads (paraphrasing). The problem is that the unique structure of the US system of government gives said shitheads outsized power and representation relative to their numbers.

  • ATDA@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    It has worked SO WELL for…

    Well I wouldn’t want to bother them with history.

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    4 months ago

    That’s what the Germans though in 1932, too. Maybe those idiots now should have a look into some history books about that era to see what happened next.

  • LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    32% is all you need. Thanks to the perpetual minority rule established by electoral college system

  • One of my gramps fled fascism in Italy. Always warned me that a lot of people want someone to tell them what to do, primed to receive commands. That side is filled with rebels, flexible and rational people that operate in shades of grey.

    On the other side, I have a cousin who had a strict dad, retired military guy, good soldier, no doubt. Cousin loves Trump. That side is more blue collar, less education, less financial means. Cousin never had to deal with emotions, couldn’t have done so in a safe environment with her dad around anyway, yelling at her all the time, telling her exactly what to do, why to do it, how to do it.

    She would get harshly punished for very specific things and her folks would make sure she understood the just desert of it clear. She’s never led anything of her own, never started anything for herself. She’s very attached to the idea that people get what they deserve and has a hard time related to anyone different from her, which are defense mechanisms and marks of her emotional immaturity. Like, she cannot fathom that there are innocent people in prison who have pleased guilty. Her ability to think for herself is as stunted as her compassion for others. She needed serious education and travel, exposure to other cultures and ideas, she got a certificate, a job, and an apartment instead. Super attached to her personal property. Cannot fathom the idea of not being angry if for example something was stolen from her that she was fully insured for. Obviously she has a gun and feels like it keeps her safe.

    She has authoritarian sympathy engrained in her. It is her attachment style. Loud shouted orders are her love language.

    Dumb as a brick.

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    a decade later, somewhere on 4chan

    be me
    hardcore Trump supporter
    Trump wins, I’m ecstatic
    world starts going to hell, WW3 kicks off
    married with three sons, trying to keep everything together
    decide to start a construction company, war efforts boost business
    build a bunch of buildings, making bank
    get elected to local office, life is on the up and up

    land a huge contract, biggest yet
    build the place, turns out it’s a gay bar
    fml
    media catches wind, calls me part of the “woke agenda”
    sons get drafted into the war, proud but terrified
    trying to keep the family safe as the world burns
    business takes a nosedive, firebombed by extremists
    every building I’ve ever built gets torched
    house goes up in flames, barely escape with wife

    wife blames me for everything, says I’m the reason we’re targeted
    receive word from the front lines
    “All three of your sons killed in friendly fire”
    caskets arrive the next morning
    wife loses it completely, leaves the country, I’m left alone

    arrested, accused of contributing to “trans agenda”
    just a foreman trying to get by, now rotting in jail
    every dream turned to ash
    life was supposed to be perfect
    now I’m just a broken man with nothing but regret

    tfw everything falls apart because of one misguided decision

    sadpepe.jpg

  • SuiXi3D@fedia.io
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    4 months ago

    I remember reading long ago that the best form of government is actually a benevolent dictatorship. The problem is that dictatorships never stay that way and doing anything about it becomes extremely difficult, if impossible.

    So basically, leaving it all up to one person is a bad idea.

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    4 months ago

    Here they go through Europe biggest fuck ups 90 years later. I’d say enjoy the ride but they’ll pull the whole world in.

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    4 months ago

    If only we could give them what they want and let them have their own shitty fascist country somewhere so they’d leave us alone.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Insanity. I have seen these people in operation my whole life, and I still don’t understand this type of thinking.

    Sigh.