http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/092807a.htmlBy "authoritarian submission," he means a high degree of submission to the authorities who are perceived to be established and legitimate in the society of which one is a member. "Authoritarian aggression" is characterized by hostility toward people who are perceived to be disapproved by the established authorities.
Both of these tendencies have been apparent in the past couple of weeks, especially around Bush’s and Ahmadinejad’s addresses to the United Nations.
In contrast to the vitriol directed at Ahmadinejad for daring to even step foot in New York, Bush was essentially given a free pass over his many hypocritical statements in his address to the General Assembly.
Typical of the coverage of Bush’s speech was a report from Bloomberg.com, which noted without a hint of irony that Bush “challenged the United Nations to return to its founding principles and take the lead in opposing repressive regimes and championing the cause of human rights and freedom around the world.”
Bush faulted the UN for the world’s deteriorating human rights situation, saying that its Universal Declaration of Human Rights “is not being upheld.”
Bush Abuses Forgotten
Virtually no one in the U.S. media spelled out what the individual rights were in the 1948 declaration – presumably because Bush had violated so many of them – nor did the American press corps delve into the conflict between the UN and the Bush administration over its alleged human rights abuses.
The fact that the UN and other international organizations have long called on Bush to adhere to international standards in his prosecution of the “war on terror” was largely ignored by the U.S. media in its coverage of Bush’s speech.
There was no mention, for instance, of the UN’s call in February 2006 to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, and either bring the detainees before a competent tribunal, or release them.
Five independent investigators of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights made this recommendation after an 18-month investigation into the situation of detainees at that U.S. Naval Base. The recommendation was endorsed by Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said he hoped the prison camp would be shut down “as soon as is possible.”
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what’s happened to the American government lately. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government has made. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. It’s about the United States standing at the crossroads as the next federal election approaches.
“Well,” you might be thinking, “I don’t believe any of this is true.” Or maybe you’re thinking, “What else is new? I’ve believed this for years.” Why should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the “Introduction” link on this page?
Because if you do, you’ll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look at the research.
For example, take the following statement: “Once our government leaders and the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within.” Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with it? Want to guess what they had in common?
Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right? Guess again.
Don’t think for a minute this doesn’t concern you personally. Let me ask you, as we’re passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to? What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at what experiments tell us, as I did.
If, on the other hand, you’re way ahead of me, and believe the extreme right-wing elements in America are poised to take it over, permanently, I think you can still get a lot from this book. The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things they’ve done wrong, but why do the rank-and-file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?
I think you’ll find this book “explains a lot.” Many scattered impressions about the enemies of freedom and equality become solidified by science and coherently connected here.
You think I’m pulling your leg? Push the button.
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