Worse cop. On a side note, just in time for the RNC convention, the St Paul PD will
be getting 230 brand new Tasers.
Now, viewing the two above examples, there is a group of people who would be shocked
and disgusted that the people we trust to enforce our laws would act that way. Then
there is a smaller group who love that stuff. They'll say that those people had it coming,
and they love that authority put some people in their place- and they really love the
arbitrary use of force- for them it denotes "toughness".
It happens that this kind of authoritarian personality defect, as outlined by the
ubiquitous Sara Robinson (just assume that when I use that name it's required
reading and leave it at that), has certain characteristics for leaders and
followers.
.................................................
Leaders are:
•Typically men
•Intimidating and bullying
•Faintly hedonistic
•Vengeful
•Pitiless
•Exploitative
•Manipulative
•Dishonest
•Cheat to win
•Highly prejudiced (racist, sexist, homophobic)
•Mean-spirited
•Militant
•Nationalistic
•Tells others what they want to hear
•Takes advantage of "suckers"
•Specializes in creating false images to sell self
•May or may not be religious
•Usually politically and economically conservative/Republican
Dean notes: "Although these collations of characteristics…are not attractive portraits,
they are nonetheless traits that authoritarians themselves acknowledge." In other words,
these guys know what they are, and are often quite unabashedly proud of it.
Followers are:
•Both men and women
•Highly religious
•Moderate to little education
•Trust untrustworthy authorities
•Prejudiced (particularly against homosexuals, women, and
followers of religions other than their own)
•Mean-spirited
•Narrow-minded
•Intolerant
•Bullying
•Zealous
•Dogmatic
•Uncritical toward chosen authority
•Hypocritical
•Inconsistent and contradictory
•Prone to panic easily
•Highly self-righteous
•Moralistic
•Strict disciplinarian
•Severely punitive
•Demands loyalty and returns it
•Little self-awareness
•Usually politically conservative/Republican
.................................................
Sound like anybody you know? To be honest- a lot of that sounds like me before I
had to get help. In cleaning out my apartment, I came across what was running
through my mind- back in the 80's:
" target="_blank">
Bad porn
I'm sorry it's not a nicer time of year. I never thought I would say it, but there
are books that need to be burned- and these would look especially nice slowly tumbling
into a bonfire. My experience makes me wonder that what we call modern Movement
Conservatism might be akin to some kind of low grade mental illness- and if you followed
the link, that figure of 26% isn't that far from the percentage of Americans who approve
of Bush's performance in office.
So the upshot is, though it didn't do my brain or my social life any good, I certainly
do know the folkways, movement history, and the way this filth thinks. Woo hoo, crazy is
as crazy does!
This is why the whole Obama thing is so alarming- if you're one of the above people.
Imagine what a threat a compelling appeal to our better selves would be, exhausted
after 20+years of poisonous exhortations to our fear and hate. It's not so easy to
stand by the sidelines cheering when it's your own neighbors coming back from the war-
fucked up or in boxes, all the while knowing with a certainty that they were thrown into
that situation for nothing but a mad dream.
It's a paranoid style that has served these people well, and when the party's over,
there's going to be some nasty tantrums. Check out what happened the last time:
.................................................
At dawn on April 19, as he drove toward the Murrah Federal building, McVeigh carried with
him an envelope whose contents included pages from The Turner Diaries, a fictional account
of modern-day revolutionary activists who rise up against the government and create a full
scale race war. He wore a printed T-shirt with the slogan Sic semper tyrannis ("Thus ever
to tyrants", the phrase shouted by John Wilkes Booth immediately after the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln) and "The tree of liberty must be refreshed time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants" (from Thomas Jefferson). As the truck approached the building, at 8:57
a.m. CST, McVeigh lit the five-minute fuse. Three minutes later, still a block away, he lit
the two-minute fuse. He parked the Ryder truck in a drop-off zone situated under the building's
day care center, locked the vehicle, and headed to his getaway vehicle.
.................................................
Sara Robinson (again) cites a study by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. It's about
how cults go from odd to dangerous- it's relevant here because the same dynamic works in any
group of like-minded people, like for instance, right wing "patriotic" movements.
Step 1 is self identification and the beginning of withdrawl from society.
Step 2 is isolation followed by confrontation with authority, intimidation in and
out of the group, and the beginnings of lawlessness.
Step 3 is out of control paranoia, violence, and terrorism, triggered when the leader
begins to feel a loss of control.
.................................................
Meantime...
Republicans go after another veteran.
Obama- no Packers fan.
A benefit CD for the victims of the bridge collapse.
.................................................
Good Porn
No comments:
Post a Comment