Triumph of the Authoritarians

From the Boston Globe courtesy of BuzzFlash, Watergate conspirator turned good guy John Dean laments on how traditional conservatism has morphed into weird authoritarianism:

Candid and knowledgeable Republicans on the far right concede -- usually only when not speaking for attribution -- that they are not truly conservative. They do not like to talk about why they behave as they do, or even to reflect on it. Nonetheless, their leaders admit they like being in charge, and their followers grant they find comfort in strong leaders who make them feel safe. This is what I gleaned from discussions with countless conservative leaders and followers, over a decade of questioning.

And

For almost half a century, social scientists have been exploring authoritarianism. We do not typically associate authoritarianism with our democracy, but as I discovered while examining decades of empirical research, we ignore some findings at our risk. Unfortunately, the social scientists who have studied these issues report their findings in monographs and professional journals written for their peers, not for general readers. With the help of a leading researcher and others, I waded into this massive body of work.

What I found provided a personal epiphany. Authoritarian conservatives are, as a researcher told me, "enemies of freedom, antidemocratic, antiequality, highly prejudiced, mean-spirited, power hungry, Machiavellian and amoral." And that's not just his view. To the contrary, this is how these people have consistently described themselves when being anonymously tested, by the tens of thousands over the past several decades.

Authoritarianism's impact on contemporary conservatism is beyond question.

Click here for the rest.

So, I've written a great deal about authoritarianism and public education here at Real Art over the last few years: the short version is that, despite the fact that most people believe the schools are about learning, the moment to moment reality in classrooms, hallways, and lunch rooms throughout the nation betrays public education's true purpose; education is about indoctrinating children into the culture of authority and obedience--learning, as it is more popularly understood, is a secondary and contradictory concern. You may disagree with my analysis, but think about it for a moment. Kids spend, if you include kindergarten, thirteen years in an artificially created social situation that is utterly heirarchical and authority laden before they are unleashed on the greater society. Their entire days are strictly structured and organized; there are rules out the wazoo, and rigid consequences for their violation. There are punishments and rewards, in the form of grades and institutional acceptance or rejection, for the often meaningless tasks known more popularly as "assignments." Bullying and social elitism among students is not only tolerated but often actively encouraged by teachers, administrators, and coaches. Keep in mind that children are immersed in this environment for thirteen of the most formative years of their lives. They may know their multiplication tables and the preamble to the Constitution when they graduate, but they know much better that there are rewards for people who get with the system, and punishments for people who don't.

Is it any surprise that many Americans take the tacit but overwhelmingly persuasive lessons from school about authortarianism to heart? Throw in some harsh Christian fundamentalism, and we have the modern Conservative Movement. In short, the schools have created the anti-democratic fuel, and the conservatives have provided the spark. This right wing authoritarianism has been a long time in coming. And now we have to deal with it.

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