@Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney @Npars01 @lolonurse That's interesting information. I hadn't known Teri Kanefield had said this. It fits with recent PRRI findings:

prri.org/press-release/survey-…

@Burnt_Veggies @lawyersgunsnmoney @lolonurse

The delusional allure of easy solutions through despotism...

Fareed Zakaria also commented that dictatorships offer false hopes of giving up & letting go of the fight to preserve democracy. The Joy of Quitting.

Peace by lying down & quietly dying at the request of Republican billionaires IS NOT really an acceptable option.

These megadonors intend to fry the planet & replace democracy with a theocratic oligarchy
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Silicon Valley’s Trump supporters are dicing with the death of democracy

In 2016, some said comparisons between the rises of Trump and Hitler were misguided. But as tech’s titans donate millions, worrying new parallels emerge

^{John Naughton (The Guardian)}

What an amazing thread. One of the best I've ever read & the references are fantastic. Thank you all.

My husb & I often discuss this propensity of citizens of any nation to embrace or repel *the other* in society.
Why do the 40% hate so much? Why are they unmoved by the logic and empathy of the 60%?

In the first instance i think children learn generational hate & rage and that cycle has to be broken by self awareness + education + community. (I did it by moving from UK to Australia to put distance btwn us & my toxic family but that's another story)

Secondly collusion comes about when ppl think they have more to gain from aligning with the oppressor/enemy & seek either survival or approval. They have to be made to realise the approval will never come bc they will always be seen by the oppressor as flawed or at best useful to their cause. (eg MAGAs will always be gutter people to someone like Trump or Bannon)

Thirdly i think some ppl just DONT have the physiological capacity to empathise. So they need compassionate laws/ social scaffolding to compel them to behave (eg covid + masks)

I think in the past, religion has made ppl (1) control rage, (2) align & (3) obey rules when they didn't want to, so its satisfied all the above criteria.
But more ppl are turning from religion bc it no longer rings true in our scientific age & has fallen into the hands of characters who interpret the words of ancient texts for their own gain.

This has left a huge vacuum currently being filled with the Seven Deadly Sins. (Interestingly Sloth has a fascinating mental dimension of lack of care for other - see photo)

We desperately need mature empathetic measured calm GLOBAL governance to fill this vacuum. There are very few ppl up to this job. Dare i say most are women...
The men currently espousing authoritarianism are woefully and terrifyingly lacking in any qualities that can address the problems facing us all.
Trump and Putin are amongst the worst of them.

Capitalism and the worship of money/commodities is the fuel on the fire that makes the rageful amongst us resentful bitter introspective vindictive & vengeful against those minority *others* who have no voice to change the system.

#globalpolitics #auspol #ukpol #usapolitics #authoritarianism #capitalism #fascism