To keep it short the reason why some people are ok with authoritarianism is because most structures that we deal with on a daily basis are authoritarian.
Here is evidence that shows a significant amount of people are ok with authoritarianism:
This should be concerning.
And the thing is that it makes sense once you look at what are the most common systems that people interact with the most.
A clear example would be the Boss-Worker relationship. The boss creates a set of objectives/tasks for the worker and the worker sees them out. Rarely does the worker get the chance to set the higher level direction of what they are supposed to be doing with their time leaving them obedient to the boss and their demands.
Another example would be some Parent-Child relationships. Some parents treat their children as people that should show absolute respect towards them just because they are the parents not because they have something that is of value to the child (experience).
Even in the places where we do make democratic decisions those are usually made in ways that are supposed to be supplemental to authoritative decision making. An example would be how we don’t vote on decisions but instead how we vote on others to make decisions for us.
Once you add up all the experiences that someone has throughout their whole life you will see that most of them come into direct contact with authoritarian systems which means it makes that kind of way of thinking familiar and therefore acceptable.
Unlike democracy which is an abstract concept and something we only really experience from time to time.
If we want people to actually stop thinking authoritarianism is ok then we as a society are gonna have to stop using these kinds of systems / ways of thinking in our daily lives.
From my experience I found that people who are fine with authoritarianism for various reasons are the ones that want to be relieved from decision making and responsibility. It makes their life easier when they are given directions rather than thinking for themselves. Not all of them reach this point voluntarily, sometimes life just forces them into it.
In my experience, the people who crave authoritarianism the most appear to understand it the least. This is both a cause and an effect of the authoritarian executive system when put into practice.
Most authoritarians struggle mightily to explain the rationale behind their own choices, even incredibly simple ones. They also display a genuine aversion to the very process of evidence-based critical thinking.
Thus the allure of authoritarianism is in justifying the release of it’s agents from the burdensome task of real, responsible decision-making. It’s not hard to understand when you consider how overwhelming the decision fatigue must be for those described above.
I think we need to add the consideration, that representative systems put the blame on people, when in fact their actual influence is extremely limited.
Oh you voted for party xy? Then it is your fault that they fucked the people over again. But come next election all the media and political propaganda is telling you how that is the only acceptable party and the other ones are all evil…
Oh you took on the student debt to take the education that you were told by all mainstream voices to be necessary for you to have a decent live, but the cost of living and your debt eat up a lot of your middle class income? Well how were you personally so stupid to do what society told everyone to do. It is all your personal fault!
We life in a capitalist oligarchic society that structurally takes away peoples participation opportunities and their freedoms while claiming to give them all the freedoms and blaming every result of an entrenched system on the individual.
I disagree with the claim that the people who prefer authoritative systems always lack critical thinking. If the actual influence you have is almost zero, alleviating yourself from the blame that is put onto you is perfectly rational.
Unfamiliarity with the real deal, and the horrors it will bring. Combined with the belief that because you are the “in group” it will not be detrimental to you, only the “out group”.
You do something similar, by expanding the scope of authoritarian rule (that determines the direction of society at large) with small scale power relations which by themselves are governed (and limited) by society. There is plenty that is not allowed in the example relations you give by societal norms (laws/tradition/morals).
Combined with the belief that because you are the “in group” it will not be detrimental to you, only the “out group”.
Are you confusing authoritarianism with fascism?
Well yes and no. Fascism is a form of authoritarianism and if your leader controls stuff…
I do agree to some level. It seems to create some internal ethical conflict in people. The arguments for why dictatorships are bad are not applied to companies and the other way around.
I always thought this was extra clear among right-“libertarians” who often seem to have a very hard time not arguing for an anti-democratic state.
The arguments for why dictatorships are bad are not applied to companies and the other way around.
Hm… I’m not sure I follow what one has to do with the other. Are you alluding to some sort of banana-republic-esque situation? Or just general anticompetitve/monopolistic behavior?
I always thought this was extra clear among right-“libertarians” who often seem to have a very hard time not arguing for an anti-democratic state.
For the sake of clarity, are you using quotes to reference some group who misappropriates the libertarian term? Or are you saying that the libertarian philosophy argues for an anti-democratic state?
Hm… I’m not sure I follow what one has to do with the other. Are you alluding to some sort of banana-republic-esque situation? Or just general anticompetitve/monopolistic behavior?
Just very generally. In a company there is generally no formalized structure to represent the opinion of the subjects in this case workers. Neither are there such structures in dictatorships.
For the sake of clarity, are you using quotes to reference some group who misappropriates the libertarian term? Or are you saying that the libertarian philosophy argues for an anti-democratic state?
I do not know what you mean when you say “libertarian philosophy”, since things like libertarian socialism has very little overlap with “libertarianism” of the right. And there are the quotes again. I just think the word does not really seem appropriate in describing the philosophy when all I have heard from individuals defending it only reflect over the liberty to opress, never the liberty from escaping that opression.
I’m just trying to make sure that I don’t make assumptions in your position, so please forgive my probing.
In a company there is generally no formalized structure to represent the opinion of the subjects in this case workers.
So, to be clear, when you allude to the idea of companies being dictatorial, you are only referring to the treatment of the workers employed by the company and not how consumers interact with companies?
I do not know what you mean when you say “libertarian philosophy”
I am specifically referring to the political science concept of “libertarianism” [Wikipedia has a good outline, or this Britannica defintion, etc.] — libertarianism’s primary interest is in maximizing individual liberties, and strongly upholding individual rights.
all I have heard from individuals defending it only reflect over the liberty to opress, never the liberty from escaping that opression
Imo, this is due to a misappropriation of the term — I think I know what sorts of factions that you are referring to, and I would agree that they are not following what libertarianism advocates. Libertarianism does not advocate for the oppression of others; individual rights, and freedoms are held as paramount — the oppression of another is to infringe on their rights, and liberties. I personally simply refrain from using the term “libertarian” when talking about those sorts of people, as it only tarnishes the public’s perception of what the philosophy actually advocates.
People are okay with allowing things they imagine benefiting from the same way they’re ok with prohibiting things that don’t affect them.
Banning abortion is okay because they’re not going to do abortion. Banning tiktok is fine because they don’t use tiktok. Eating the rich is good because they’re not rich. Getting rid of capitalism is good because they’re not benefiting from it and so on.
It’s quite rare for a person to be for or against something only because they think it’s the right thing to do even if it ends up hurting them as an individual. In my view the only way to arrive at something even resembling a moral truth is by imagining that you’re then going to be placed in that society but you wont know into which role. For example if you know there’s a chance you’re going to spawn as a black person then you’re probably not going to advocate for something that disadvantages blacks but equally you might spawn as rich aswell so you shouldn’t be too excited about getting capital punishment for it either.
Does eat the rich really mean capital punishment for them? I thought it was just a meme way to say expropriate and redistribute their resources.
It’s not uncommon for people to call for their beheading with a guillotine aswell. Some are jokin, some are not. I think it’s safe to assume they would take their opposition literally in a equivalent situation instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Guillotine yeah I am sure some mean that literally. But eat the rich is clearly a metaphor I think. I don’t think people saying this are actual cannibals. But it would be an interesting poll to hear what people actually mean. If there are a lot of people who are actually wanting to kill people I would be more prone to oppose that language since I don’t support capital punishment (much less extra-judicial killings).
