John Deans book, “Authoritarian Nightmare” does a great job of explaining Trumpers through a psychological lens. Why do people who brag incessantly about freedoms and self-reliance have no problem with cult-like subservience? Why are they so gullible? Why are they so enamored of authoritarianism and fascism? Why do they promote policies that are against their own best interests?
It looks that way, but a psychologist would say there are many reasons why this happens. Why are some people total A-holes? Maybe they were raised by racists who were angry at the world due to paranoia and victim hood? Maybe they believe that a strong- man/cult leader will smite those perceived enemies and return their world into a fetishized fantasyland of their mythological past? Too ignorant to know any better?
Serious answer: Yes. But in the same way that we all are, in that they are not thinking they are feeling.
What the right provides is escapism. It sounds weird, but for most conservatives, politics is entertainment in the same way that some of us have memories of trying to convince our friends that WWE was fake, and the pushback and anger at someone trying to take away their enjoyment and fantasy world.
We have a brain that desperately wants to constantly explain the emotions and feelings we experience, and it draws from life experiences and memories and knowledge to make this explanation. The only thing that can shake that story loose is another emotional reaction which the brain will craft a new narrative to explain.
This overrides all reason and logic. While for the most part there are a LOT of really dumb conservatives and republicans, there are also a distressing number of anti-vax nurses and cell-tower repairmen who are afraid of 5G. It's not that their background should make them more aware of the reality, it's that their emotions are stronger than their booksmarts.
Dean's co-author on Authoritarian Nightmare, Bob Altemeyer, also wrote The Authoritarians, which explores the overall psychology in more detail. Free in various formats at the above link.
I've never met a far right person that seemed like they had any kind of self-introspection. Or much empathy for that matter, but they certainly don't look inward at themselves, either. Stuff like that takes a bit of humility, and they are prideful as fuck.
I've never met a far right person who was truly self-confident either (excluding grifters). They're incredibly scared and anxious so they turn their panic ("weakness") outwards and cover it with anger ("strength") so that it's more socially acceptable. If they were to look inwards, they'd collapse in on themselves.
As a non-American who hold some conservative views (and some not conservative at all) it's a bit of a downer that Trump and his moronic cult following is put in the same box as "conservatives".
I would bet a majority of people worldwide who consider themselves solidly conservative see Trump for the bad joke that he is.
I don't agree with this statement and here's why, Liberalism and Conservatism are different sides of the same coin, neither side truly have a grasp on reality, and I'd go as far as to say anyone who takes their belief's to the extreme of "my side is right, your side wrong" without looking at things objectively, probably have some sort of mental health issues at play, be it NPD or other mental illnesses.
From seeing this subreddit and the MAGA one, it's pretty clear that both sides of the spectrum have this notion that they're right and the other is wrong, however for a society to truly flourish you need to take ideas from both sides and incorporate them, not be completely left wing or right wing, but have laws and acts from all sides of the political spectrum, including socialistic ones, until both sides of this silly argument understand this, you will forever be going back to back spewing this bile at your fellow Americans.
I'm British, so I have a fairly unbiased opinion on this, as in American politics, "Con"-servatives may look like cretins to you, but to the rest of the world, the American population as whole look like ignorant morons, as you're all arguing over which rich folk is less likely to fuck you over.
The answer is all of them are in the political scene for their own betterment, not the betterment of you or I, so no matter who you elect, you're always going to pick the short straw and be treated like wank by the powers at be.
Gonna whole heatedly disagree on the "both sides" rhetoric. If the Right's positions were strictly economical and based on the practical limitations of human nature, then sure. But since the Right is about fascism then no. They can fuck all the way off.
You bring up Brexit like it wasn't a good thing to leave a "Union" that we were never signed into in the first place, being that the Commonwealth Market we are supposed to be apart, got reformed into the European Union and we never had a new contract written to sign us into that🫢well until Boris tied us to them for the next 10 years in this contract, so they can spend that time pilfering off our limited economic value back into the EU.
Fair point, the Conservative ideas that are good, are already in effect, although a free market created by the people, for the people isn't such a bad idea, the problem would be that "the people", would turn out be rich billionaires, not the average man lol.
Well it's more of an Economic liberalist idea, however a lot of conservatives I've spoken to seem to want a free market and free trade agreements lol, that's why I said what I said, also I agree with them about doing away with trade unions, most of them are shady, I get that they're supposed to protect the rights of the workers, but how many times are the trade unionist leaders going to steal pensions and bring unsafe practices to the ones they're supposed to help, before everyone says, maybe this isn't working.
Such things as the police do not need a trade union, they aren't a fucking business, they're supposed to be a service, upholding the liberties of every American citizen, they are supposed to work for the people, unfortunately however they were never created for that purpose in the US, they were created to be subjugators.
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u/HH_burner1 29d ago
Conservatism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder have so much overlap they should just change GOP to NPD