Review of 'The Authoritarians'

[alohawolf]

Link to The Authoritarians (a free eBook) or Amazon.com The Authoritarians

I stumbled on to this book on the recommendation of a friend, I read it and was impressed with the conclusions it draws, In my lifetime I have seen a dramatic shift toward the right in the Republican party, the GOP is no longer a big tent, at best its several smaller tents with connected awnings, with no room left for people like me, whom are social liberals, but at times fiscally conservative.

In reading this book, I was able to recognize traits of RWA's in people around me. For example, I know several people who suffer from the extreme compartmentalization a Mormon scientist, who can both hold the semi creationist doctrine of the LDS Church and work on study of the solar system, this contradiction alone make my head want to explode.

I also have several friends, who while being actively gay, are also Neoconservatives and see no issue with their personal needs for equal rights, and the party's call for in some cases recriminalization of homosexuality.

I believe that in the end RWA's are not bad or evil, but their recent prevalence does explain the extreme lack of elasticity in politics in the Unites States over the last decade and some of the seemingly contrary positions held by the Republican party on whole.

(if you think anyone mentioned in this entry is you, your wrong, both people mentioned are composites of several people)

Comments

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

I must say, "hear, here!" Many people I know are social liberals and fiscal conservatives, all of which fall under the heading of "smaller government." Many of them say the same thing as me: "If the Libertarian party were not run by a bunch of lunatics, I'd switch." Because social liberal and economic/political conservative is pretty much their rallying cry, even though it's not what they end up doing.

[broduke2000.livejournal.com]

Basically, more and more fundys are reading into their bible that they will be able to take over the US. They see the economy going down, they see the government running out of funds, and they are arming themselves to the teeth, in preparation.

At some point, should they actually get their way, the US will be controlled 100% by White Christian Republicans. Blacks and other minorities would become 2nd class citizens, and we would be either put in prisons or killed.

Any Neoconservative who hasn't seen this looming ahead, has blinders on.

[spikedpunch.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, when you take a stand on one thing, it usually puts you in conflict with something else, so you are constantly tip toeing from one sharp edge to another no matter how careful you are.

Though I suggest that you read "Rules for Radicals" sometime soon to see things in another light since it seems like you have been reading a lot from one particular extreme.

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

I don't see how the Republican party has changed much since the days of President Reagan, and that constitutes my entire lifetime. The one thing that we do share agreement on is that the GOP needs to improve on being a big tent party. I am particularly frustrated by the rejection of gay conservatives and Republicans by the mainstream establishment. I also think that the GOP needs to do a better job appealing to racial minorities. The Republican party will not survive as an 'all white party', though the main reason why minorities lean so strongly to the Democratic party and liberalism is because of cognitive dissonance, brainwashing, and slavery to welfare. Conservatives need to do better at breaking those chains.

I also have several friends, who while being actively gay, are also Neoconservatives and see no issue with their personal needs for equal rights, and the party's call for in some cases recriminalization of homosexuality.

I have seen no such calls from the mainstream Republican party to recriminalize homosexuality. I know that there are fringe, ultra-conservative Christians that would like sodomy laws enacted again, but I do not believe they make up a significant force in the conservative movement. Sodomy laws certainly are not a priority issue among the Republican party. I don't know of any of the Republican candidates running for president who have called for reviving sodomy laws.

As for 'equal rights', that could mean anything. I assume that you are referring to the issue of marriage. I don't understand why we need state sanctioned gay marriage. If I found another man that I wanted to commit myself to for the rest of my life, I would be perfectly fine with a civil union which affords nearly all the same legal protections as marriage. I don't need the state defined title of 'marriage' to validate my relationship. So if by 'equal rights' you are referring to legal rights, I agree. But I do not agree that government or society needs to adopt the idea that gay marriage and traditional marriage are entirely equal and the same in every way when they clearly are not.

[berin.livejournal.com]

I think the entire problem is The Big Tent.

Case in point, actually, is the Tea Party. Or, as we'll call them for this example, the ultra-loyal GOP base. These, historically, are the people that show up at the polls every year. They'd come dressed in Red face paint and carrying memorabilia if the polling places allowed it. They're True Believers.

Yes, the sports-fan parallel is intentional.

The GOP is trying as hard as they can to keep the Tea Party in The Tent. Why? Because the GOP knows that if they lose these voters that they will lose elections. These voters vote for different reasons that your middle-of-the-road voter that the Textbooks tell you win elections (The Reagan Democrats, or the Obama Republicans).

A generation ago, the Democratic party was straining to keep their Progressives in a similar tent, and for the same reasons.

What I think America really needs is a more honest four party system. No party really wants that because then no one wins. They have to do these messy compromises and form coalitions.

Never mind that it'd be what's really best for the country, because instead of Coke vs Pepsi, you'd get Dr Pepper vs RC vs Mt Dew vs Sprite. And quite possibly many areas in-between.

Or put another way, American elections should be like school board elections where I live. At least nominally non-party (as in no candidate declares a party affiliation) with the parties endorsing candidates as an interested third party.