Authoritarians At The Gate

Karen Stenner (Sternner, K. (2005). The Authoritarian Dynamic.) is quick to point out that authoritarianism is best understood as a dynamic response to external threat, not a static disposition based on the traits of submission, aggression and conventionalism. I disagree strongly with her assumption, since most of the characteristics represent an attitude, a focus and a target. Like a loaded gun, authoritarians are constantly hunting for a target.

From the above listed characteristics, it is clear that authoritarians are not fond of democracy, free-choice, critical thinking, education, and egalitarianism. Democracy is all about equality and transparency. In a Democracy, all persons have equal access to justice, fairness, goods & services, life, liberty and prosperity.

Authoritarianism is necessary to maintain social order within societies, or so it has been claimed, mostly by German Philosophers of the past.. John Locke (1632-1704) believed that people were basically hedonistic and would choose pleasure, avoiding pain if given the choice. Nothing would be ever accomplished if we allowed people to act on their own accord. Schopenhauer (1788-1860) & Nietzsche (1844-1900) believed that irrational instincts strongly influenced men, but while Schopenhauer thought that man should be repressed, Nietzsche believed that man should be free to express his instincts. And Alfred Adler believed that authoritarians express their power to overcome deep seated feelings of inferiority, and that even weak individuals would use pity and punishment to control others.

Fortunately, other great thinkers, mostly French, recognized that people are not necessarily evil and destructive by nature. They become that way due to conditions and circumstances which endanger their survival. Bacon, Hobbes, Newton & Descartes ushered in a Period of Enlightenment; characterized by skepticism towards religious dogma and other traditional pseudo-authority. These concepts are echoed in the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Those who would like to call America a Christian Nation are the folks who seek blind allegiance to dogmatic practices of authoritarianism; leadership and followers which keep the population gripped in fear of rejection, denial and devaluation. They support a resistance to creative ideas; endorse polarized thinking, stereotyping, xenophobia, prejudice, scapegoating, aggression and destructiveness. Whether they know it or not, they are endorsing the end of Democracy as we once knew it. These are not bad people, but rather people who refuse to think for themselves and find it far easier to accept direction from pseudo-authorities than face the anxiety of creating their own set of values and beliefs. Perhaps they are just lazy, or maybe they don't care to question themselves for fear of what they may find. Either way, they are sheeple headed for the slaughter house, and they are taking their children along.

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