Meanwhile, 44 percent backed the American tradition of competing branches of government as a model, if sometimes “frustrating,” system.

Why would people want to live under an authoritarian’s thumb? It’s rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security—real or perceived—and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group—especially if it is the “right” group whose interests will be protected. Recall the Trump supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    a decade later, somewhere on 4chan

    be me
    hardcore Trump supporter
    Trump wins, I’m ecstatic
    world starts going to hell, WW3 kicks off
    married with three sons, trying to keep everything together
    decide to start a construction company, war efforts boost business
    build a bunch of buildings, making bank
    get elected to local office, life is on the up and up

    land a huge contract, biggest yet
    build the place, turns out it’s a gay bar
    fml
    media catches wind, calls me part of the “woke agenda”
    sons get drafted into the war, proud but terrified
    trying to keep the family safe as the world burns
    business takes a nosedive, firebombed by extremists
    every building I’ve ever built gets torched
    house goes up in flames, barely escape with wife

    wife blames me for everything, says I’m the reason we’re targeted
    receive word from the front lines
    “All three of your sons killed in friendly fire”
    caskets arrive the next morning
    wife loses it completely, leaves the country, I’m left alone

    arrested, accused of contributing to “trans agenda”
    just a foreman trying to get by, now rotting in jail
    every dream turned to ash
    life was supposed to be perfect
    now I’m just a broken man with nothing but regret

    tfw everything falls apart because of one misguided decision

    sadpepe.jpg

  • Sam_Bass@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    32% of americans are chickenshit responsibility abrogators that want everything they do to be dictated to them. Religion has been a major primer for that mindset

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      At some level, people just want a particular policy. It’s silly to pretend a democracy where I never get what I want is going to be more attractive than a dictatorship where I get to unleash my libidinal id.

      And you can’t just blame this on religion. Religiosity has plummeted over the last 40 years, but we seem to be as accommodating towards fascism as ever.

  • pjwestin@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Weird coincidence, but have you noticed how Trump’s approval, when it’s at its absolute lowest, always hovers around 32%?

    • thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      I mean, I imagine if someone like Bernie Sanders became Dictator for Life; the quality of life for 99.999% of Americans would improve; so purely in a thought-experiment kind of way, it works.

      The issue with even the most benelovent dictatorships is the matter of succession.

      • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Yup, that is the exact problem of benevolent dictatorships. No matter how good it is in the short term, the long term will always end in disaster at some point or another.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Braindead, or supremely selfish and would love a regime that enforces their unpopular desires over the democratic choice?

      • NιƙƙιDιɱҽʂ@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        Which is still braindead. What happens when their perfect leader can no longer serve? Even if a dictator 100% aligns with you, you’re a fool to support them.

    • Tujio@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It was a disturbingly close call which side of WWII we were gonna land on. In 1939 the second-largest Nazi party in the world was right here in America.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    That’s what the Germans though in 1932, too. Maybe those idiots now should have a look into some history books about that era to see what happened next.