Much has been made of Donald Trump’s campaign for the U.S. Presidency as well as his seeming popularity and rise in polls. Questions abound, such as “Is Trump like Hitler?” or “Is Trump like Mussolini?” The crux of what is happening, however, has nothing to do with parsing the political distinctions between fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany, or unpacking the ways Mussolini was unlike Hitler. Rather, we might look closer into the process of how violent and repressive group social identities may be formed.
What is “Authoritarianism?”
Frederick Solt defined authoritarians are those with “unhesitating obedience to orthodox authorities—and indeed their demands that their fellow citizens similarly obey—such authoritarian individuals are thought to have provided a crucial base of mass support for some of the worst political disasters of the past century, from aggressive wars to genocide.”
Solt cites empirical research on authoritarians being “more intolerant of ethnic, religious, sexual, and political minorities.” According to him, their greater respect for authority “yields ready support” for the aggressive use of police and military force. Higher levels of authoritarianism “make individuals more likely to condone and even endorse illegal and blatantly undemocratic government.”
What is “Totalitarianism?”
Totalitarianism generally refers to centralized control by an autocratic authority; it is a political concept that holds that citizens should be totally subject to an absolute state authority.
What is “Fascism?”
Fascism generally refers to an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. In practice, we can see it operating in extreme right-wing, authoritarian governments, where there is strict intolerance for oppostional views. As a social movement, Fascism came into prominence in early 20th-century Europe under the influence if national syndicalism. One form of Fascism originated in Italy during World War I; it later spread to other European countries.
Fascism opposes liberalism, Marxism, and anarchism. If we look at it from the perspective of the traditional left-right paradigm, Fascism is identified with the far right.During the time period of World War I, Europe underwent massive changes in connection with the Great War; changes in terms of social organization, the state, and technology. Given how the entire society was mobilized for war, distinctions between civilian and combatant easily gave way. As a result, a form of “military citizenship” evolved. Everything in society was oriented towards supporting the war, economics, logistics, and even human procreation. The state, furthermore, achieved unprecedented power to intervene in the lives of citizens.
In terms of ideology, Fascists tend to believe that liberal democracy is obsolete; that it can’t be administered effectively and what is needed is a strong leader backed up by an authoritarian/totalitarian one-party state. Such a leader operates, more or less, as a dictator. A martial system of government is typically formed by members of a fascist governing party who work to forge national unity at all costs.
Fascism rejects assertions that violence is automatically negative in nature; political violence, war, and even imperialism are understood to be within the normal range of options that may be exercised in order for the state to achieve its nationalistic goals. Fascists advocate a what might be thought of as a mixed economy, through a combination of protectionist and interventionist economic policies.
Efforts to lable someone a “fascist” have, at least since the end of World War II, been met with skepticism (the rhetorical move is generally associated with hyperbole). Nevertheless, that does not mean that it is inappropriate to invoke use of the term. Why? Because in contemporary American society, we are witnessing a resurgence of what experts have identified to be “neo-fascist” and “post-fascist” groups. The candidancy of Donald Trump has, furthermore, embraced some of the toxic rhetoric of white supremecists, go so far in many instances to “re-tweet” the actual words of leaders associated with these groups. To be fair then, critiques and comparisons of Trump with Nazis and Nazism are not out of line because they share unusual points of resonance.
Alexander Billet explores the aesthetics of Fascism in Trump’s campaign in his article entitled “Donald Trump and the Aesthetics of Fascism: What a 20th-century Marxist art critic can teach us about a very 21st-century candidate.” His article points to “The Freedom Kids,” who Trump trotted out on one of his campaign stops.
Cowardice
Are you serious?
Apologies for freedom, I can’t handle this.
When freedom rings, answer the call!
On your feet, stand up tall!
Freedom’s on our shoulders, USA!
Enemies of freedom face the music, c’mon boys, take them down
President Donald Trump knows how to make America great
Deal from strength or get crushed every time
According to Billet, “This is a cartoon version of American nationalism. The sheer absurdity of the performance is stunning. And yet, Trump’s supporters will surely both love it and accuse anyone who doesn’t of being a terrorist and a communist.”
Trump’s Aestheticization of Politics (reposted from article by Alexander Billet)
All of this points to one of the reasons why the discussion about Trump and fascism is such a difficult one to resolve. More than any other American presidential candidate in recent memory, Donald Trump understands the ideological power, the raw manipulative magic, in politics as aesthetics.
The phrase “the aestheticization of politics” is borrowed from the late Marxist philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin. Benjamin’s work has experienced a resurgence in interest over the past year. Partially, this has to do with the 75th anniversary of his death (suicide, poignantly enough after the news that he was about to be basically handed over to the Nazis). But what really animates the timeliness of his writings is the brilliant way he was able to diagnose just how capitalism saturates itself into the fabric of culture.
In his 1936 essay “The Work of Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Benjamin charted the way in which technology had forever changed art. The ability to reproduce an image or a sound countless times had created the potential for the democratization of art. But that democratization was prevented by the means for that reproduction remaining the hands of a few. Thus, it was possible for undemocratic regimes and governments to use art for their own benefit the way it hadn’t been previously feasible.
Benjamin was writing with Nazi Germany in mind. This was a regime that knew how to deploy aesthetics ingeniously. Even as Hitler and the Third Reich railed against the poisons of modernity, they both used the latest technology to relay their message. They grabbed people’s attention and held it, igniting their imaginations and providing them with a sense of ownership over a system that would just as soon see them driven into dirt. Says Benjamin:
Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life.
The crisp, angular uniforms for party members cranked out by the thousands, the massive orchestrated rallies, the technologically innovative films of Leni Riefenstahl—these are all perfect examples of how fascism aestheticized politics to its own end. All employed the rhythmic regimentation of life, the fetishization of raw power and sacrifice for the Fatherland. Violence was not celebrated for its own sake, but was seen as a necessary and fascinating virtue, even beautiful for its ability to mobilize people’s minds and bodies.
The resemblance between these and the Freedom Kids performance, or Trump’s descriptions of a “great, beautiful wall” along the Mexico border, are clear. All equate freedom with the ability to exert absolute power. All are the intended substance of the vague slogan “Make America Great Again.”
But the aestheticization of politics does not (by itself) equal fascism. Benjamin’s argument is that fascism represents merely theintroduction of aesthetics into politics. On the one hand, he is arguing that the manipulative link between politics, art and fascism is not strictly causal. On the other, he’s saying that the ability to make human suffering pretty for political gain is something that can persist well beyond the decline of classic fascist dictators like Hitler, Mussolini or Franco.
In fact, if there is anything we can say about the aestheticization of politics in our own age, it is that it’s alarmingly quotidian. Contemporary cultural critics like Terry Eagleton, Martin Jay and others have observed this in their own writings. David Harvey, in his 1990 book The Condition of Postmodernity, argues that neoliberalism and its postmodern cultural logic have made meaning and coherence flexible, relative, accountable not to facts, but to subjective feelings. In this landscape, the aestheticization of politics is more effortless than ever.
Telescope this forward to today. Social media has made the individual persona or narrative, regardless of truth, endlessly reproducible through the electronic channels of Twitter and Facebook. Trump clearly knows this. And his time on The Apprentice proved that his Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous manner was ultimately adaptable to a 21st-century cultural tenor. He has a bottomless bank account to back it up. Add in a white, increasingly old middle class, palpably anxious about whether their days are numbered that can seal themselves in a media bubble echo chamber should if they really want to, and you’ve gone a long way toward explaining what’s underneath Trump’s poll numbers—and what makes him somewhat exceptional.
His media strategists are masters at detaching meaning from fact, making words accountable only to themselves and how loudly they’re shrieked. This makes him a quintessentially postmodern candidate contrasted to an age when the cold, everyday facts of collapse, crisis and apocalypse are unavoidable.
Trump taps into a vein of very real fear, and uses virtually any unmoored fact he can find to mobilize it. It is precisely why, though it is quite incorrect to label his right-wing populism as “fascist,” it is not impossible that he could pull a Father Coughlin. That there are open white supremacists campaigning for him shows that the raw materials are there, waiting to be pieced together. That his campaign is able to employ an “aesthetic strategy”—though they would likely never acknowledge it—reveals an ability to do so.
What can be done then? Benjamin, in his essay, posits an intriguing alternative to an obvious “anybody but Trump” voting strategy: Against the aestheticization of politics, the left “responds by politicizing art.” It sound likes classic academic hairsplitting, but what each represents is one of the elements that has set apart our side as more thoroughly democratic and bottom-up.
The Freedom Kids’ song employs a beat that is simple and one-dimensional, easy to follow, lulling the listener into a sense of security and predictability. It uses buzzwords and phrases that occupy a specific place in the heads of Trump’s target audience and are guaranteed to get a rise: “cowardice,” “apologize for freedom,” “c’mon boys,” “enemies of freedom,” and yes, “make America great.”
Never is there any mention of what these mean or the potential human toll underneath them. That’s deliberate. They are intended to whip resignation and fear into a highly emotional and irrational powder-keg that can be ignited or dampened as those as the front of it see fit. Trump is in control, and he wants us to both know this and take comfort in it.
By contrast, the left has a rich and vibrant history of using art, music, literature and performance to gain critical distance, to question why life is the way it is, to make it weird, unfamiliar, anarchic and atonal so that we might see just how little our present condition makes sense. This is art intended to challenge and polarize. It is a disruption; a fundamentally democratic disruption that pulls back the wizard’s curtainand reveals the cold, Machiavellian machinations of political and economic elites for what they are. It is a tradition that runs through the revolutionary romanticism of William Blake, socialist surrealists like André Breton, Benjamin Péret, Franklin and Penelope Rosemont, and the best examples of psychedelia, graffiti art and punk rock.
It is an alternative that flips Trump’s logic upside down, be it through individual pranks or concerted mobilization. It can be found in the counter-protests that are starting to follow him wherever he goes. Or in workers’ unionization efforts and threats of strikes at his casinos (a fitting rebuke to a man whose solution to the Greek debt crisis is to build a hotel on top of the Parthenon). Or the work of Sarah Levy, the Portland, Oregon artist whose painting “Whatever” took the Donald’s words about Megyn Kelly’s menstrual cycle and turned them (literally!) inside out.
The Freedom Kids’ handlers would love nothing more than for us to smile gleefully when the doomsday button is finally pushed. Our side, conversely, must regain the confidence to smash and reshape reality, and push back against the Right’s weaponized fatalism.
Trump’s Authoritarianism & the “New Wave” – It Can Happen Here
Paula Young Lee’s article shifts focus as it takes a look at Trump’s authoritarianism. According to Lee, “Americans struggling to understand Donald Trump’s domination of the Republican primaries should consider that totalitarianism has already happened on U.S. soil—not as a political movement that swept the nation, but in the petri dish of one high school. The frightening but enlightening story is recounted in The Wave (Die Welle), a gripping 2008 German film that shows how a study in group psychology unexpectedly revealed the seductive lure of fascism. The plot is based on true events that took place in 1967 in a Palo Alto, Calif. high school.
The Wave commensed when “history teacher Ron Jones conducted an experiment with his class of 15-year-olds to sample the experience of the attraction and rise of the Nazis in Germany before World War II. In a matter of days the ‘Third Wave’ experiment began to get out of control, as those attracted to the movement became aggressive zealots.”
For the American teenagers caught up in the Third Wave, the startling discovery was how easily this particular strain of group-based identity could coalesce and harden, descending into cruelty and drowning them in a darkness they didn’t know existed. (In 1976, Ron Jones wrote a short story detailing what happened, and there also exists a 2012 documentary, The Lesson Plan, based on the events.)
“Be careful who you follow,” warns Mark Hancock, who was in Jones’ classroom, “because you never know where they might lead you.” For the students, the events of 1967 remain an abject lesson in “the psychology of leaders and followers, when passion for one’s cause leads to intolerance and persecution of others, extremist political and religious groups, cults, gangs, bullying, etc.”
Lee says “the world is now watching the Wave unfold in real time across the U.S. Given the steady amplification of violence at Trump rallies, it is impossible not to notice the parallels between Donald Trump’s ascent to political prominence, and the swift spread of the Wave under Ron Jones/Herr Wenger. Appealing to a disenfranchised working class angered over jobs and immigration, Trump plays to unspoken hopes that he will upend the racial hierarchy destabilized by President Obama and reassert the primacy of whiteness, as Slate’s Jamelle Bouie has argued.”
“Trump’s campaign is itself the monstrous love child of pop culture married to ignorance. The “poorly educated” people Trump “loves” are simultaneously disgusted and enthralled by a media machine cynically profiting off their fears. Covert operators—all white, mostly male—who’ve managed to infiltrate Trump rallies have attempted to describe the peculiar energy there. They enter with vague expectations of entertaining weirdness and exit with their faith in humanity shaken to its core.”
“This isn’t politics,” says Lee, “it’s pure spectacle, right down to the messages from its leader. Trump paradoxically claims his lies are true, because to confirm a lie requires an ontological framework that assumes the possibility of truth. Eliminate truth, dismiss reality as so much media bias, and you automatically eliminate the lie, too.”
Un-Reason & “Un-truth”
As Horkheimer and Adorno argue in Dialectic of Enlightenment, we are potentially entering an era distinguished by new forms of Barbarism and un-reason. Lee argues similarly, using more plain-spoken language: “if Trump is the first political candidate to understand we have entered the Age of Untruth— an age from which there is no turning back—it is also the case that his adherents are attracted to the glittering promise of a return to authoritarianism for precisely that reason. The greater the epistemological uncertainty, the more vital the need to externalize order through abstract systems such as the Church and the Law, which create bright lines of difference between “us” and “them.”
“By orchestrating the chaos and calling it “beautiful,” Trump invokes the aesthetics of popular performance in order to legitimize inchoate feelings of anger and despair. Meanwhile, political commentators have been calling on Trump to start “acting presidential,” as if being a good actor was a necessary and sufficient condition of being the leader of the free world. What does acting presidential actually mean?
In Trump’s case, it means he is likely to eventually step in and impose order on the chaos he created; he will demand that his followers control themselves, but this will succeed only if Trump commands absolute power over their hearts, minds, and bodies. Strength through discipline, strength through community, strength through action.”
Social Class, Authoritarianism & Fascism
The American media, over the past year, has been trying to work out something of a mystery: Why is the Republican electorate supporting a far-right, orange-toned populist with no real political experience, who espouses extreme and often bizarre views? How has Trump, seemingly out of nowhere, become so popular?
What’s made Trump’s rise even more puzzling is that his support seems to cross demographic lines — education, income, age, even religiosity — that usually demarcate candidates. And whereas most Republican candidates might draw strong support from just one segment of the party base, such as Southern evangelicals or coastal moderates, Trump currently does surprisingly well from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the towns of upstate New York, and he won a resounding victory in the Nevada caucuses.
To get at the answer here, we have to think about why people like, relate to, and/or sometimes act like authoritarians.
Solt takes a social learning approach to argue that “contexts of greater economic inequality shape experiences with authority in ways that can be expected to increase authoritarianism.” He says:
“Societies with higher inequality have unequal distribution of power, creating hierarchies of wealth and authority; the greater the economic inequality, the more widespread the authoritarianism. Insecurity plays a vital role here. reflexive deference to traditional authority (church, state, etc.) becomes a coping mechanism for social and economic isolation, powerlessness, and above all, fear. These can all be countered by “clinging to the refuge of unquestioning obedience to authority.”
Amherst Study
Last September, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst named Matthew MacWilliams realized that his dissertation research might hold the answer to not just one but all three of these mysteries. MacWilliams studies authoritarianism — not actual dictators, but rather a psychological profile of individual voters that is characterized by a desire for order and a fear of outsiders. People who score high in authoritarianism, when they feel threatened, look for strong leaders who promise to take whatever action necessary to protect them from outsiders and prevent the changes they fear. So MacWilliams naturally wondered if authoritarianism might correlate with support for Trump.
His research was based on polling a large sample of likely voters, where he looked for correlations between support for Trump and views that align with authoritarianism. What he found was astonishing: Not only did authoritarianism correlate, but it seemed to predict support for Trump more reliably than virtually any other indicator. He later repeated the same poll in South Carolina, shortly before the primary there, and found the same results, which he published in Vox.
As it turns out, MacWilliams wasn’t the only one to have this realization. Miles away, in an office at Vanderbilt University, a professor named Marc Hetherington was having his own aha moment. He realized that he and a fellow political scientist, the University of North Carolina’s Jonathan Weiler, had essentially predicted Trump’s rise back in 2009, when they discovered something that would turn out to be far more significant than they then realized.
That year, Hetherington and Weiler published a book about the effects of authoritarianism on American politics. Through a series of experiments and careful data analysis, they had come to a surprising conclusion: Much of the polarization dividing American politics was fueled not just by gerrymandering or money in politics or the other oft-cited variables, but by an unnoticed but surprisingly large electoral group — authoritarians.
Their book concluded that the GOP, by positioning itself as the party of traditional values and law and order, had unknowingly attracted what would turn out to be a vast and previously bipartisan population of Americans with authoritarian tendencies.
The upshot of all of this research is that social class and psychological pre-dispostions matter – and they have obvious implications for democracies with growing inequalities – increasing inequality will promote the social conditions that lead to support for authoritarians.
Most troublingly, the research also shows that authoritarians prefer the use of force to diplomacy. At home and abroad. Think about that.
Sources
“An Erie Early Warning of Trump’s Authoritarianism,” by Paula Young Lee. Last accessed April 2016.
“Authoritarianism’s Hidden Root Cause,” by Mathew Willis. Last accessed April 2016
“The Rise of American Authoritarianism,” by Amanda Taub. Last accessed April 2016
“Donald Trump and the Aesthetics of Fascism: What a 20th-century Marxist art critic can teach us about a very 21st-century candidate.” by Alexander Billet. Last accessed August 4, 2016.
Discussion Questions
What parallels can you draw between the arguments presented in Dialectic of Enlightenment and Donald Trump’s political candidacy?
Set aside the Hitler/fascism comparisons – how do you see Trump exemplifying an “authoritarian” personality? What is it about him that resonates such mass-appeal?
What do you think will happen if Trump is not elected? Where will all the angry people direct their anger?
Generally speaking, of the four front-runners for political office, one on the GOP is a man who thinks God talks to him; the other is a egotist who essentially thinks he’s God. Forget about the candidates for a moment, what does this say about U.S. society, when we consider how many people do not appear to be turned off by this kind of thinking?
The parallels that one can draw between the arguments presented in Dialectic of Enlightenment and Donald Trump’s political candidacy is fairly clear. As Adorno and Adorno and Horkheimer made very clear, the Enlightenment Era, which has always been seen with as this heralding period of advancement of the human society, was actually a deception. There’s nothing enlightened about a society that would support its own self-destruction by supporting the ascendancy of Donald Trump. The domination of nature and society has reached a breaking point – and war, power, and domination have become prime. Enlightenment and myth are therefor not irreconcilable opposites. Humanity has become barbaric and has explicitly and implicitly allowed for the rise of fascism and authoritarism to reign in modern society today.
Setting aside the Hitler/fascism comparison – I see Trump exemplifying the authoritarian personality because he’s got a mouth on him, and he “tells it out it is” without filter or respect to the audacity or reaction it would illicit from the public. This “tell it as it is” approach resonates completely with the quiet racists who normally do not like being policed over their own hateful views. His incessant posturing and desire to be seen as the “sole fixer” for America’s problems has provided a source of strength for normally weak-minded individuals who have nothing else to cling onto.
If he’s not elected, as he’s started to make more direct references to, he’ll convince his followers that that the election was rigged to begin with. This will fuel their anger even more and I anticipate resentment, violence, and animosity growing with even more strength and vigor in the coming years. There’s no way all of these individuals will go quietly back into the night. They’ll find new and different ways to attack all the things they feel threatened by – ideals of progressivism, liberalism, and inclusiveness. They feel cheated out of the America they should have gotten by having elected a man like Donald Trump, and I have no doubt they’ll fight like hell to try and win America back.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both have some favorable traits and some unfavorable. Looking at things from an objective point of view, some of the reasons people support Trump seem rational. For example, large companies cannot buy him out because he obviously does not need the money. Can he potentially better the economy? It is possible, although he has had many faults with his own money. There have been instances in history where he supports union workers and gives them work however, a presidential candidate must have more attributes then just those in order to be a favorable candidate. What makes him unfavorable is accordance with Horkheimer and Adorno, in the Dialectic of Enlightenment. Society is entering into an era where reason does not exist and Barbarism. He has proven to undermine those who are not as privileged as he was as well as be barbaric in the way he speaks. Does Trump speak the truth? Yes, he does however Trump does more than just that. He insults minority groups in a way that makes people wonder what he would do as president.
Trump is an authoritative leader and could become a totalitarian leader, however there is still hope that the systems in place in America are strong enough not to let that happen. Trump is an authoritative leader because he capitalizes on a society that reveals the most unequal distribution of power than any time in history. An authoritative leader acts in a manner that protects people when they feel threatened by change or foreigners. It is why a leader who is stronger is then deemed favorable. Donald Trump resembles such requirements. No presidential candidate is perfect nor should they be expected to be however something that Donald Trump has not done is explicitly demonstrate the policies he will implement while elected. This is why his support has recently diminished. Trump seems to be more focused on what has brought him popularity through this presidential campaign than trying to be the best president for America.
If Trump is not elected, I feel that he would somehow try to point the blame on someone and not take into consideration the true fact that he would not have been a good president for this country. As for all of his followers, I feel that they would direct their anger to the government and to the minorities because they would somehow feel like it was their fault that Donald Trump was not elected. Whether it be because it was the fault of the minorities who did not vote for him or the government rigged the voting polls. One way or another, they will somehow find an excuse to legitimize why Donald Trump was not elected. If Trump is not elected, chaos, riots and nothing but violence could take place. The reason is because as mentioned on the website, violence can be uses to mobilize people’s minds and bodies. Majority of Trump supporters are similar to fascists in a sense that they see violence as the key to solving their issues. “Political violence, war, and even imperialism are understood to be within the normal range of options that may be exercised in order for the state to achieve its nationalistic goals”. These people are not just going to back down now that they were able to find someone well known in the public sphere, like Donald Trump, who believed in the same ideals as they did. For years people have been hiding how they feel about racism and now they have Donald Trump, so they feel like they can speak and act freely on what they think they should do with cases like immigration or dealing with minority groups, like the LBGTQ community. The public might then try to take matters into their own hands if Trump is not elected, which even the thought of the possibilities of what could occur are frightening.
The presidential race up until this point in time has been considered not only an honorable goal but an extremely exclusive and prestigious pursuit. A video exists from the 2008 race between Senator John McCain and then senator Barack Obama, where an elderly woman approaches Senator McCain and issues a troubling statement. The woman asks, in front of a large audience, whether or not Senator McCain believes Obama should be allowed to run due to rumors she picked up stating that he is Muslim. The woman displays a blatant insensitivity along with ignorance. McCain responds, without hesitation, that senator Obama is a kind and respectable man who hosts no negative affiliation with any group and that the two men see eye to eye on many subjects. McCain states that truly the only difference between the two of them is their respective approaches to improving this country.
Now, granted this scene was in front of a large live audience, the proof in the background and the ability of a random person to have filmed it. Granted this respect and understanding may have been feigned or exaggerated. Granted the Senator may have even detested his opponent and was merely angling for the good guy routine to gain popularity in his response, to look good for his own gains. However, when did the day come when manners were thrown to the side? Regardless of whether or not McCain’s sentiments were authentic they were respectful and adult.
Today, we have an uprising of a popular mindset: respect is no longer prioritized. Perhaps due to an increasingly distant youth who are increasingly engulfed in the no man’s land that is the internet. Perhaps parents simply do not know how to instill values as well as previous generations. Perhaps many things happened, but one thing is certain: courtesy is transforming if not dying.
The presidential candidates only achieve their positions via the support of the people, in theory. So when there are 4 potential presidents on one stage this is a fairly accurate representation of America in all its populations. Obviously there are exceptions and under representation involved but for the most part the President must adhere to the needs of his country. When mudslinging, slander, disrespect, insensitivity and hatred become involved in national politics that is a reflection of the direction we are headed. Regardless of whether or no Donald Trump achieves the presidency I have seen a new fear. The path that has led to this decision is wrought with many negative factors and these factors will continue to exist despite the outcome of this race. It is impossible to eradicate technology; it is impossible to stop progress. We as a people need to change the way we speak to each other and the way we conduct ourselves so that the new paradigm following the technological wave does not become one of hatred and violence. Technology will continue to advance but we need to make sure we do with it. As a people we need to reprioritize what is worthy of admiration lest we land ourselves in a vicious cycle; Hate or love, twitter wars or facebook likes?
In the case of Donald Trump he might not win the elections that will be a clear demonstration of how authoritarianism it’s losing its supporters. Apparently, Donald Trump’s fame it not because of his money it’s because people think that authoritarianism it’s their perfect system to fallow.
If Donald Trump wouldn’t win the election people’s anger would hated him for not showing people that he could be a good representation. The anger would go to people who doesn’t share with him totalitarianism the same way he does. People would look at him as a person incapable you can expect those people who have psychological personalities that have that anger with those who don’t share their same thoughts. Nowadays, these manifestations of Trump are full of anger. Even though, his supporters have so much hope that his figure will symbolize obedience. It’s necessary that Donald Trump will calm people down since there could be major social conflicts. Hopefully people won’t get disappointed and would react in a good way. People must be respectful to each other and respect any decision that the government would make.
Americas and even the world are worried about the future of this country under the rule of Trump. People are torn because no matter what we choose there is no outcome that can make everyone happy. The trump supporters will be angry and disappointed no matter the outcome. Even if trump wins what they don’t know is that he’s just a businessman or a sales man, everything is saying is just so he can win an election and it’s not saying much. He is trying to get all the angry white men that feel like they have been cheated out of their rights in this country to be on his side, he tells them what they want to hear. He makes racist ignorant comments that bring out all the people in America that were too scared to speak up before him. But even if Trump is elected president all those people that have such high hopes will be angry and disappointed because he won’t do anything to benefit those people. He will do things to help benefit the 1% and ignore all promises that he made. ON the other hand, if Trump is not elected president there will still be many Trump supporters running around America ready to fight with anyone that doesn’t agree with their ideologies of how this country can be great again. No matter the outcome of this election I think many people feel like living in America will be a war zone.
The reason why a lot of people compare Trump to Hitler is because Trump is using the same tactics to brainwash people into thinking that all of his ideas make sense and are the ideal conditions that we need to be living in. All this time before Trump many of his supporters had to be scared and hide their racism and they didn’t like that so now that Trump has given them a pass to be racist they love that and they don’t want to go back to an America where they have to hide their true thoughts. What I don’t understand is that if you hide the fact that you are racist that has to mean that you know it’s wrong and it’s not how you should be, so wouldn’t that make you think “maybe I should change, to be a better person and do the right thing.”
Donald Trump is a man with a vision for America, not a specific vision, a great vision…the best vision…Trump has a plan to make this country great again…. What plan??…. a great plan…a plan that will work because it’s the best plan…. Why???… because Trump knows good people…which people???…. the best people…. people that are not stupid like other people…. people who know how to get deals done…what deals???…great deals…the biggest deals… because I know words… What words???…I have the best words… I get my information from watching TV… I consult with myself because I have a great brain… A great brain???…the best brain…Trump will also build a big wall to keep Mexicans out and he will make Mexico pay for it! How…??? it’s all part of the great plan! ISIS will be gone very, very quickly…How???… I won’t tell you. It’s a secret !!!… (This guy is a “one-man circle jerk” and he is only about entertaining the uneducated who love him and his great plan. He’s all air – no substance. And he is their “Champion”.) (Bridges, Tim. “Facebook.)
The arguments presented in Dialectic of Enlightenment and Donald Trump’s political candidacy illustrate some similarities. One of the parallels I can draw between these arguments is that lies are dominating in the society where individuals with political ambitions such as Donald Trump have willingly decided to use lies to achieve their political ends. Truth is being eliminated from the public, while reality is being dismissed, all enhanced by media bias. This is similar to the argument in Dialectic of Enlightenment that we have entered the Age of Untruth, where lies are spread by the media. This has created uncertainties regarding what should be considered as truth. The other parallel that can be draw from the two sets of arguments is that totalitarianism has already taken place in the United States in many forms, and now it has been perpetrated by political movements. An example is where Trump’s political rallies have steadily amplified violence. In addition, Donald Trump’s speeches and political remarks in his rallies have also angered working class over jobs and immigration, threatening to bring about social and racial stratification. This is also illustrated in Dialectic of Enlightenment where Horkheimer and Adorno argue that this era is distinguished by new forms of Barbarism and un-reason.
Setting aside the Hitler/fascism comparisons, I still see Donald Trump exemplifying an “authoritarian” personality. First, he exemplifies authoritarian through his rather arrogant remarks regarding racial groups and his policies regarding immigration. In essence, Donald Trump’s speeches and political remarks in his rallies have angered working class over jobs and immigration, threatening to bring about social and racial stratification. This alone exemplifies him an authoritarian personality. Second, Trump seems to support the need to eliminate truth and dismiss reality as well as media bias in order to eliminate the lie, which shows the authoritarian personality since the media is expected to be free from any influence. Third, Trump exemplifies authoritarian personality through his intolerance towards ethnic, sexual, political, and religious minorities. Particularly, his attitude and perception towards the people of the color (Latino, Blacks and Asians) is an indication of the authoritarian personality in Donald Trump. The mass-appeal about Donald Trump comes from his arrogant attitude and pride and his ability to use pop culture to enhance his weirdness and peculiar energy. This has allowed him to gain popularity among mass audience through social networking sites and mainstream media.
In my opinion, if Donald Trump is not elected in the coming U.S. general elections, all the angry people will direct their anger to the Republican Party, the party which Trump is the flag bearer. The reasoning behind this is that the Party had other candidates that are not as arrogant or authoritarian as Trump hence it should not have allowed Trump to seek for U.S. presidency through their ticket. In addition to this, I also believe the angry people would also direct their anger towards the various delegates that offered support to Donald Trump, making electorates to believe that he was the best Republican Party presidential candidate out there. Otherwise, these delegates should have opted to back up another presidential candidate from the Republican Party.
In general speaking, the majority of people’s attitude of not appearing to be turned by the kind of thinking that the four front-runners for political office in the U.S. election illustrates that the U.S. society has been infiltrated by authoritarianism and un-reason. People are not willing to reason out the kind of leader to choose from the four hence have been manipulated by lies.
Donald Trump has an authoritarian personality, this becomes apparent through his speeches. His values reject any form of tolerance. He speaks of freedom but yet chooses to undermine the extreme hardships suffered by the undeserved minority groups. He offers his opinions as truths that should be taken at face value and makes use of stereotypes to gain popularity by those that feel like their lives have been impacted negatively by the rising number of immigrants. He believes that by controlling jurisdiction he can bring about positive change for those that feel left behind by the Democratic Party.
If Donald Trump is not elected there will a lot of hate and harm thrown towards the Muslim community. What Donald Trump represents in this election is pure ignorance. There is both this idea of confusion with the massive following he has, and also this feeling of knowing these kind of people still exist in society today. It is easy to just say Trump is feeding into the fears of these individuals when it comes to Muslims, and uses that as a running point for his whole campaign but it’s much deeper than that. No matter how ignorant, or just unrealistic some of the things this man says, these people still choose to defend and stay loyal to him. It is as though they see this man who is in this position of power, and because he is where he is in life, the things that he says, the decision he makes, they are all viewed as right and anyone who goes against them must obviously have no idea what they are talking about.
An experiment was done called the “Milgram experiment” was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. What this experiment basically did was measure people’s willingness (with this specific version of the experiment it was only men involved) to perform acts that basically conflicted with their conscious. What the experiment showed was a relatively high proportion of the people were ready to obey, even if what they were doing was causing some serious distress or injury to another individual. So this man in a lab coat basically gave one man instructions, telling him to hurt another individual, and because this authoritative figure was giving these instructions, this demands were followed. Donald Trump is that man in the lab coat, and his followers are those individuals who are being told to cause harm to the Muslim community. Now, Trump has never flat out said “attack the Muslim community” but his words and hate indirectly fuel this hate towards Muslim’s. Now if Donald Trump does not win this election, there will be a lot of angry people, who will look to blame the Muslim community which he has openly been attacking in his campaign from the start. The fear that he installed in people, along with the anger that would come if he lost the election, would result in some very harmful behaviors and tendencies being displayed.
Dialectic of Enlightenment argues that the Enlightment transformed the concept of reason into irrational force. As a consequence, reason came to dominate not only nature, but also humanity itself. This argument can go parallel in a sense how Donald trump is promising people to make America great by dominating certain groups to liberate others. He is talking about creating concentration camps for Muslims, deporting the illegal immigrants, and illegalizing abortion. People in America are admiring his ideas. They are dreaming for that day to come true. They are forgetting dominating humanity have not served any good in past. People are not realizing how Donald trump is not very different from Hitler. His authoritarian personality and promises are very similar to Hitler. In one of the video the interviewer interviewed people reading some of the quotes from Mien Kampf pretending it is Trump’s idea and people agreed it as a right things to do. I have posted that video below.
https://youtu.be/5NzhQWcc7h4
Donald Trump has an extreme authoritarian personality. He is trying to enforce all these strict polices. Banning muslims from the US, deporting all illegal immigrants, building a wall, etc. He is absolutely out of line. Yet he still gets all of this attention. He is all over TV, the media (I see new memes of him on instagram almost everyday). I feel that he is becoming a clown to everyone and everyone is just making fun of him or do people truly favor Donald Trump? Well I thought that most people really disliked him and would never even think about voting for him as our president. However, I was very surprised to see that Donald Trump got many votes from people in NYC. I watched a video online the other day with a mexican immigrant woman holding up signs “VOTE FOR TRUMP, VOTE FOR TRUMP” . I couldn’t believe my eyes, in my head I was like “HE WANTS TO DEPORT ALL OF YOUR PEOPLE WHY ARE YOU VOTING FOR HIM!!??”. Donald trump has these authoritarian urges, but so do a lot of other people. I think since Donald Trump is trying to enforce all this craziness, people that truly agree with him are probably happy that finally a presidential candidate is stepping in with their same views. For example some people might dislike mexicans, so why not vote for Trump if he is planning to get rid of all of them? Or if some people may not feel safe around muslims, why not vote for Trump if he can get rid of them as well?
Looking at Trump and his political candidacy the first thing that is noticeable is how he likes to lead, how his opinion is the one that matters, and how everyone should follow in his though process. He is a prime example of an authoritarian personality. But the thought process behind all of this, would have to be that he isn’t giving himself those votes, but rather people are behind him. He brings up topics that maybe other candidates have touched up on but the difference with him is that he speaks to people like he can take care of them and people seem to be falling for that. The fact that he would want to put up a border, wall to keep immigrants out, or keep people separated like Muslim people. This country is made up of so many different minorities and yet there are so many minorities voting for him. What does that say about the people that live in this country? People are happy with what is easy and accessible all people want is an easy fix, something that can be giving to them without too much work and he offers that but inevitably its also what makes this country break down. If he were not to be elected a lot of people would most likely go into strike mode of what should have been but wasn’t, not realizing that maybe it was for the best. Looking at the video below, the thought crossed on why would anyone want a person like this to be President of this country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBOi7nfrd8k
The parallels between Dialectic of Enlightenment and Donald Trump’s political candidacy is the idea of “easy pleasures” in popular culture which makes people become more submissive to ideas. That being said, Donald Trump’s use of simple vocabulary in his speeches makes it easier for masses amounts of people feel connected to what he is saying. This is because, now a days mass media and popular culture has made people so comfortable with simplicity. This simplicity goes hand in hand with popular culture such as reality shows. Through reality tv shows, it shows the ‘inside’ scoop of someone’s life that makes people see how these celebrities can be just like us with their issues. Therefore, what resonates with many when it comes to Donald Trump is his simplicity in vocabulary; this allows him to make his supporters feel as if he is easier to relate to because he is easier to understand for many. The way Trump sets up his speeches is made in a way in which people do not have to critically think about what he is saying. Donald Trump is taking the role of an authoritarian by making his supporters feel as if he is their protector by feeding them effortless solutions for the problems our country faces today. Donald Trump feeds off of the emotional concerns of people by discussing his “solutions” for terrorism for example. By doing this, he is making his supporters feel emotionally obligated to him because he is forming this image of being so protective of them. Therefore, if Donald Trump is not elected as president the fate of this country can go just as bad as if he were to become president. I think, there will be many angry mobs that will form from this especially because violence is a very big issue at Trump rallies. This is because, his supporters are so invested in him emotionally through his ways of getting people to listen. The way he acts attracts attention as well, is by not acting within the norms of how a presidential candidate should act therefore his childish ways of acting are bringing people in simply out of curiosity. His supporters are more seen as his followers because they see him as superior than the rest.
Donald Trump exemplifies an authoritarian personality. Trump is able to possess complete control over his supporters they defend is actions and follow his every word. Trump is able to convince people to support him by using authoritarianism and the fear of terrorism. Trump has these ideas of building a wall to keep immigrants out, making women who have abortions pay for killing a life when it’s their choice and keeping Muslims all together in camps so the government can watch them. Due to the different terrorist attack that have been happening throughout different places in the world he is using that to his advantage to show his supporters that he can keep them safe. So his supporters listen to what he says obeys and agrees with the nonsense that he tells them because they want to feel secure and they trust Trump. What resonates with people is his how he is able to speak to them using words that everyone can understand and by also demonstrating a hate for anyone or anything that is against “Making America Great Again.” If Trump is not elected for presidency I believe that his followers will start a riot for a while, curse the system and say that its rigid or maybe even kill a few people. Trump supporters are so consumed by his personality that I do believe that they might kill people if he does not win. Especially those who Trump target throughout his campaign.
“Be careful who you follow, because you never know where they might lead you.”
This is what I believe that Trump supporters need to understand. They are following someone just because they seem entertaining, or whatever other reason they might have, without realizing that Trump isn’t going to do anything that will benefit them in the long run. He’s going to always do what works or for him and what benefits him, at the end of the day he is a business man and not a politician. I feel as though those who are excited to see Trump are going to be extremely disappointed when he loses. Even though he has all these people on his side, I truthfully don’t believe he will win. Of course, those voting for him are (I believe) small minded individuals who won’t know what to do with themselves once he loses. They will continue being angry racist who some how believe they are better than everyone else, they same exact way that Trump is and the same way that he’s going to continue to be wether he wins or loses. I feel as though Trump supporters are so narrow minded that nothing, not even him losing, will change how they view those around them.
Horkheimer and Adorno criticized the enlightenment because of its totalitarianism and controlling nature. They also claimed that as people became more technologically advanced over nature, humankind became caught up in the process of authority. People who support Trump don’t need a lot of reason to choose him as a Presidential candidate.
Donald Trump is very much an authoritarian, as the term is generally used to describe someone who favors the strong authority of government or to put more simply someone who is autocratic, tyrannical or despotic.
Trump’s authoritarian views are proven without a doubt by his totalitarian and unconstitutional campaign. He promises to deport 11 million illegal aliens currently living in America, by his planned unconstitutional order to ban all members of one religion from entering the US, and by his promise to have Mexico pay for a wall on our southern border despite the fact that the current Mexican finance minister and 3 past presidents said that there is no way Mexico would pay for such a wall. But possibly the best clue to Trump’s authoritarian bent was his response during one of the debates to a question related to Mexico’s refusal to pay for the Trump Wall, he said “the wall just got 10 feet higher”. His total disdain of anyone else’s authority other than his own is possibly the clearest sign that wants to be an authoritarian ruler, a king, rather than the president of a nation of the people, by the people and for the people.
Trump has proven he can speak to the masses. He offers very little reasoning and information in most of his statements but what he does say is easy to understand and doesn’t encourage people to broaden their understanding of different issues. I think most candidates do this. They talk policy but they inform the public in a very generic ways leaving out some of the issues that are actually being dealt with because they are beyond the understanding of the mass majority of people’s worldly knowledge. I think what is different about Trump is his language. He is said to have the language skill of a child in grade 8. This statement stood out to me because I had just learned the guide lines for making surveys and doing social testes use and they recommend that whoever is conducting the study should keep their questions and instructions at a grade 8 reading level to ensure that their subjects will understand everything that is being asked of them. They do this to ensure that no one is confused of harmed through the experiment or test. Trump is using the fact that many adults in America can be manipulated and encouraged through language. People do not like to be confused and ignorant and here is Trump, speaking their language and offering them the things they want to hear. “Easy” solutions for why they are struggling in the system. They are unhappy and Trump is offering very broad ways to point fingers at groups of people that have historically been discriminated against in society.
The authoritarian also plays a surprising role in how people are so willing to trust when they are scared or unhappy. Reading this passage I finally understood why Trump could have a group of young supporters. The section from Solt describes the drive that inequality has toward authoritarian leaders. The younger generations do feel insecure and powerless. They are being told that things are not looking great for them and it is one of the first generations to hear they will not end up as economically stable as their parents. With Trumps campaign to return to the America that we idealize with everyone owning a house and car and sending their children to good schools can come back is comforting for many people. Younger adults that are just entering the workforce are finding that it is a struggle to support themselves and many young graduation college students still depend on their parents for some economic support is very discouraging and fear inducing. I think the U.S. is just at the right point where our economic disparity and inequality are becoming real in many American minds and people are looking for a way out or another distraction from what really needs to be done. The fact that we do need to help the poor when we have been raised by the capitalist mindset of poor blaming laws is forgotten and Trump is offering an alternative that does not force people to change their rooted ideals.
Trump is a character. He isn’t a politician and he isn’t “Presidential material. He puts on a show for people like a little show monkey and gets all the attention. Is the attention coming from thought-provoking and genius ideas to help better the world? No, he gets the attention from the stupid, ignorant comments that come out of his mouth. He’s a joke and a true performer. Trump is turning politics into something that it should never be, trashy entertainment. I hate to admit this but my uncle is voting for Donald Trump. Yes, I know, EMBARASSING! I was so disgusted by that new fact I learned that I just turned away. However, I was overcome with curiosity as to WHY ON EARTH he would for him. So, I asked. His answer was as dumb as his vote for Donald Trump. He said he is voting for him because “he tells it like it is.” What does that even mean? Muslims are terrorists who need to be banned from America and Mexicans are illegal rapists and murderers? That’s how it is? Please tell me where all this is happening because I’d love to know. When has “telling it like it is” overcome intelligence and compassion? So, as long as you “tell it like it is,” you are eligible to become President, according to my uncle that is.
Yes, people will be angry if he isn’t elected but to be honest, the people voting for him are already angry, and will always be angry, whether or not he is elected. What are those angry people doing now? They will keep doing what they are doing if he isn’t elected, absolutely nothing and stay the racist and judgmental people they are now. Trump is giving a voice to the people who will use their voice for hatred and discrimination. He does nothing with compassion or empathy. He fills minds with lies and ignorant thoughts. Trump wants to separate us, all of us, from each other and create a gap between different ethnicities and countries. He casts judgments on big groups of people and they are clearly wrong. What kind of President do we want and need for the United States? I know for sure that Trump is not it.
To be honest, if Trump is not elected it would not come as a surprise. I think what would be a surprise if is he is elected. The thing is, the media (the puppets) in conjunction with the Rothschild organization (the ones pulling the puppet’s strings) are the ones in charge of who is elected as the next president. Trump for one is to open about his ideas and dislikes for minorities, foreigners and some religious groups. The US presidency is a two-faced position that cuts on both sides of the blade.
Now that we know he would not be elected, the question of where would all his supporters generate their anger is clear, and that is to the RNC (Republican National Committee). Why so you might ask. Trump supporters are a majority of poor whites who are what I would call collateral damage of the powers of white supremacy. These poor whites have been brain washed into thinking that the reason for their state of being is black and brown people have been robbing them of their jobs and economic opportunities.
This anger would not last long however, because at least there would be another white fascists in the command. Hillary Clinton would now as president do her due diligence of scooping up all of Trump’s supporters. The way this work is Hillary is no more better than Trump in fact I deem her more dangerous than Trump just off of her reputation of knowingly partaking in pandering of black votes, covering up her tracks in the Benghazi bombing, and her micro aggression. Either way if Trump is or is not selected his supporters still win.
All the presidential candidates do have more or less authoritarian tendencies. However, Donald Trump does have more authoritarian attitudes than other candidates. He wants to set new laws and regulations to control citizen behavior either by socially or economically. For instance, his anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiments make him so popular among his supporters. If Trump shapes American politics with his authoritarian and fascism mindset, freedom of the press and freedom of the speech will likely to get suppressed. In fact, the media may not like him even his fellow candidates such as Cruz and Kasich and the Republican Party may cringe with his speech. Recently, the media tells us that a Republican Party themselves between their candidates have become internally divided as Cruz and Kasich make alliance to halt Trump from becoming the Republican nominee. Unlike other presidential candidates, Trump is not afraid to make consistent aggressive tone and offensive comments. Sometimes Trump would mocks openly on contrasting voices during his campaign rallies.
If Donald Trump does not get elected for President, his supporters will very likely vent out their hostilities and anger by being attached to racism and making scapegoats onto people of color for illegal immigration, terrorism and the decline of other opportunities. Consequently, this might strengthen their xenophobic sentiments. Moreover, many of Trump’s proposals such as building a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border (as a means to curb illegal immigration), repealing Obama Care, et cetera will not be implemented. It is also likely to see the growth of people of color in popular culture, more marriage equality while the U.S. will still be keeping on good terms with European countries. Overall, it is hard to predict how millions of Trump voters will actually react when he does not get elected as the 45th President.
Like Adorno and Horkheimer noted in Dialectic of Enlightenment, a totalitarian society consists of slavish practices of empiricism, calculations, predictability where man becomes alienated from nature and from himself. Thus these practices acknowledges instrumental rationality where reality is measured thru means-ends formulas. However reality cannot be measured. Whatever method used to explain reality, such as Marx’s reality approaching concept or Weber’s concept approaching reality, there is no set definition for reality since reality is always changing. Concepts may stay the same, however each society have different logic and ideas. The structure of logic varies from one society to the another.
As a society we have faith in science because it is understood to speak truth, however in reality it does not actually speak the truth. Even experience cannot justify an inference universal statement. Although an individual may have experience towards a certain subject, he/she cannot assume it is universal or that everyone has had the same experience. This creates the issue in “Dialectic of Enlightenment” stated where knowledge is thus created for satisfaction instead of procedure.
Relating back to modern culture, we are experiencing a phenomenon where strong, charismatic figures are claiming they know where the issues are coming from, they claim they know the solution, and they insist they will solve a societal issue that has been around since 60-70 years ago. These figures promote society to be accustomed to consider only the facts rather than looking for “deeper essence”. Furthermore, like any other act of totalitarianism/religion/positivism, a group of outcasts or in their case, “deviants” will always be needed to strengthen an authoritarian’s regime. Anyone who does not conform to the standard are viewed with suspicion and even exterminated to create the “ideal human race”. Whether the groups be Jewish, Homosexual, Mexican, or Muslim, authoritarian regimes will always find a minority group to place blame on and even try to scientifically prove (ex. eugenics) they are inferior to the “ideal human race”. Thus this can only result in mass violence, and even genocide.
Followers of Trump’s candidacy must not justify intolerance/persecution of others with their passionate crusade towards an ideal humanity. Ideals are just concepts; they do not and will not correspond to reality as they are just abstractions. To be ideal means to be free of ambiguity, and in reality nothing is classified as purely rational. Even in science, experience, and theory exists ambiguity. For someone, like Trump, to propose an ideal society would only succeed in being guilty of rectification, or the act of regarding something abstract as concrete.
The very presence of Trump and Cruz appealing to the American population shows that as a society, Americans are insecure of their own intellect. Enlightenment thinkers had high confidence for humanity’s intellectual powers, and therefore entrusting a high level of trust for each individual to criticize authoritative figures. However within today’s modern society, many factors such as capitalism (general work force and its structure), family customs and tradition had impeded the maturity of human race. As a result, authority became more and more habitual. Humans naturally follow law not because they are forced to, but because of deep internalization of law — which had to be taught and enforced daily. Therefore, for an individual to administer himself became more and more difficult, therefore the authoritarian figure became more well-liked.
Lastly, in order to avoid a totalitarian regime like Trump is presenting, as the general public, society has to stop finding unity in though and instead find contradictions.
When people think of a totalitarian or authoritarian personality, everyone thinks of Trump because he is the one all over the media. He is the guy who stands in front of the world and says what he wants without punishment and people enjoy that. This is because people wish they can say what he can without punishment but they can not so they keep it among themselves. But now that Trump has come along, some feel it’s okay to come out their box and say how they truly feel not always by word of mouth but by supporting Trump who is saying it for them. Trump really has a way with manipulating his followers mind to where they are willing to defend him by any means necessary and it disgusting. When watching that video of the interview with the middle to upper-class students that support Trump, I was again disgusted about what I saw. Here they were using these big words that the average person wouldn’t know the meaning of to justify every wrong thing Trump has said and it was truly sad. How could you back something that you know is morally wrong to say? In fact I don’t even understand how Trump could even run for President. I thought you had to be in a political office to run but I’m guessing not since Trump is running. If Trump does win the November election, I’m not sure the type of world we will live in with him leading it. I also hope that if he doesn’t win, his supporters don’t start riots and chaos and place blame on the next President or the types of people Trump speaks about in his speeches.
Donald Trump’s political candidacy attracts the mass of non-critically thinking individuals, who have been so docile and dominated that all they know and feel comfortable with is blindly following an authoritarian personality like that of Trump. Adorno and Horkheimer argue that instead of freedom and equality and the ability to think for ourselves, Enlightenment, with it’s rationality and formulaic ways, flattened the discourse and allowed for the domination of nature, including that of men. I think that Donald Trump sends a comforting message to those who don’t want to think critically about tough issues and that is, “You don’t have to. Just follow me and I’ll take care it.” He places blame on “outsiders” because it’s an easy solution for people to understand. It’s not complex or multifaceted, and I think if Trump is not elected people will continue to this.
God essentially asks people to blindly believe in Him–to not ask any questions. This is what the Republican candidates are asking of U.S. Society, and the fact that so many people are following these candidates proves that Enlightenment didn’t work out the way it was intended to.
I had not realized how many of my fellow high school peers want Donal Trump to win until I started seeing everything they posted on Instagram and Facebook. If Donald Trump is not elected I believe there is going to be a lot of chaos all over the country, which is already happening right now and everything that happens for the next four year will be all blamed on the next president and the first thing they will say is “If Trump was president this would had not happened”. I took the time to asked a friend who is a Trump supporter the same question and his answer was, “Well, he’s going to be a large voice in politics for the rest of his life. A group of reporters for Washington post are actually writing a book (same guy who investigated the spotlight movie that won best picture at the oscars) to expose anything about him cause they know people will always listen to him now. He’s changed the main issues of the country. Immigration will have to be dealt with-no matter who is elected. But politics as a whole has been completely changed. It shows populist movements will always be around but they’re really gaining ground with Bernie and Trump. Nobody wants to see a campaign ran traditionally in many circles, Trump saying he supports a third party candidate in the future could even damage a future republican basically, he’s going to remain an important figure and future candidates can capitalize on his persona and outspoken personality. People will probably, at least at first want to hear what Trump has to say against a president Clinton and not republican leaders in congress like speak Ryan or Mitch McConnell.” I asked one more friend who is also a Trump supporter and her answer was ” I’m not voting”.
The arguments presented in Dialectic of Enlightenment connect to Donald Trump’s political presidency. Dialectic of Enlightenment talks about what human beings seek which is how to dominate. People do not have the ability to grasp concepts. Lacking access to the concepts keeps the people on the outside to be dominated by the system, which is the totalitarian system. This is what Trump follows, wanting total control over the people and he does this by using his authoritarian personality. I do believe the leader of our country should have an authoritarian personality but not the way Trump uses it. It is okay to want control, but only if you are trying to do better instead of destroying our population as a whole. Trump’s racist beliefs and opinions are unethical, and his followers which have no sense of epistemology follows everything he says. What the people hear from Trump are things he is saying to stop the problems our world is facing by just kicking every non white American out of the country for instance. Mass majority of Trump’s followers are white males. He has a way of luring these people in with these beliefs and his personality just has the upper hand over their own minds.
If Trump is not elected, his supporters will still remain racist in many circumstances, I just believe that the racist people are very open to letting out racist comments mainly because Trump has made it seem like it is okay to. Before Trump, there were a lot more quiet spoken people that are racist. The angry people will direct their anger not to Trump but to the people they know that did not vote for Trump, which are mainly democratic minorities. Trump is the egotist who essentially thinks he is God, and people who follow him probably think the same. If Trump were to become President this “God” that the people think he is, if he were to create total chaos for our country, they would never blame him. I think they would find the minorities to blame instead.
The Enlightenment did not bring the positive changes that it hope to bring. Instead, the “ rational thinking” actually produced this constricted way of thinking consisting primarily of mathematical formula. Which was mostly produced, to create a totalitarian state and minimize any individual thinking. Creating us all as equals, in order to exploit us. We are so in cycled with the capitalistic structures that we have no time for abstract thinking. This makes us conform to authoritarian figures like Donald Trump because we spend so much time working, that we forget to question the people that rule over us. We just want somebody like Donald trump to tell us what to do. Instead of questioning his authority, it’s easier to follow through with his policies and do nothing. This has all been an outcome of the enlightenment, because this so called “rational thinking” is made party to exploit us and create us all as equal, without a voice. Instead of freeing us from the dominant oppressive figure, it actually encourages it. Where basic human desires, empathy, are foreign concepts to them
If trump is not elected, people will direct their anger towards the illegal immigrants. In particular, Mexicans and Muslims, in particular. I feel that there will be a lot of hostility from the people who wanted Trump to win. In return, this might create oppressive ways to exploit. ( Not hiring mexicans, prejudiced attitudes)
It shows that politicians feel that they’re entitled and special, which propels them to have an authoritarian attitude. Maintaining absolute control over everything, because their special. I mean to claim something so absurd and fundamentally impossible, gives politicians some entitlement to feel superior and to maintain control over most of the majority. Ruthless in its goals, cold, calculating, mathematical ways of thinking.Allowing them to Assert policy that most might not even agree with. At the same time, that’s how most of us want to look at things. We want someone bigger than us, to tell us what to do. Growing up in most families, we have that dominant figure that imposes rules over us. Its a way of thinking that has been continuously and internally developed in us for the last centuries.
Trump exemplifies an authoritarian personality because he has the ability to persuade a lot of people to agree with him regardless of how he expresses his ideas. A good example of this is when he called Mexicans rapists. A lot of people were upset at his comment but there were a lot of people who agreed with him wholeheartedly. It was as if he was the voice of those people who were thinking the exact same thing but couldn’t say it because they didn’t want to be deemed a racist. Ever since that comment has been made, those people who didn’t want to be deemed racist seemed to have gotten more comfortable with expressing their true beliefs.
There could be two outcomes that would come out of Trump not being elected. The first, and more likely one, is that those angry voters would all go back into hiding just like they have been doing for the past couple of decades. The second, and less likely outcome, is that they will start to protest but what will that solve? Protesting will not cause an impeachment or anything drastic to happen so basically they will be wasting their time. I do feel that there will be a lot of indirect anger towards immigrants and other ethnic groups but other than that nothing big will happen.
Whether Trump is elected or not, I believe riots will take place regardless. There will be riots outraged at the fact that he won and riots outraged for his loss. The American public already knows the outcomes and extremes Trump will bring forth if he is elected president. What becomes scary to me is the aftermath that can occur if he does lose. Trump himself obtaining the authoritarian personality he has, where he consistently remains defensive justifying his contradictory statements, will take his loss in a poor manner. I could see Trump discredit the final vote counts. Trump has introduced his illicit ideas and opinions that has enabled his supporters to do the same in their local communities. This can become dangerous because it can create an environment of alienation in local communities based on race and gender, which is what Trump mainly touches on. This alienation can increase crime rates in neighborhoods where there is a high population of Whites and other minority races. I want to be optimistic and not think that life endangering riots will take place but I do think that this presidential campaign will leave its imprint in the U.S. forever. As much as I don’t want to admit it this can be the beginning of a social revolution. Individuals who have not pre-election expressed their racist standpoint will do so now, since Trump has provided a platform where it becomes acceptable to target racial minorities and blame them for all worldly tragic events. I think that social order will be threatened where authority figures like policemen who share the similar viewpoint as Trump will create a tolerance for racial discriminatory acts, therefore not enforcing the law. Trump has the monetary means to create some sort of social movement where he can directly influence his supporters and other powerful monetary individuals who side with him, therefore still keeping him in the public eye even if he loses the election. America has done such a good job sugarcoating the social problems that presently exist to young children, this can change as children can become more exposed to these social problems due to the controversial election and easy access to social media.
If Donald Trump is not elected as either the Republican candidate or the President, his followers will be extremely angry and I believe this anger will be directed towards the very same people Trump has focused on tearing down throughout his campaign. He has blamed the immigrants, Muslims, blacks and anyone who is for anything he is against for the downfall of “America’s Greatness.” I believe violence similar to that of the 1960s civil-rights movement will ensue and because African-Americans have much less fear about speaking up today than they did then, the violence that follows may be even worse than that of the 1960s. The authoritarianism that Trump exudes is so powerful, they will direct their anger to basically anyone he says to. Immigrants, whether documented or undocumented will be targeted. The people that follow Donald Trump have no idea how to differentiate who is documented and they will possibly single out Hispanics, particularly anyone having features which are common in those native to Central American countries. Anyone who looks like a Muslim will definitely be targeted as well. It is probable that those in positions of power who support Trump will abuse their power even more than before out of spitefulness and anger, including those in government, law enforcement and those who hold positions of leadership in any workspace that has minority employees. Note, it will not only be those groups who are specifically targeted, but anyone that resembles them or supports them. It is very unlikely that Trump will step in to stop these acts of violence either because he will believe that is a show of people “fighting for liberty and freedom” and that act will be beautiful to him, not horribly disturbing and it is in actuality.
Trump serves as the most vocal and worst demonstration of the results of domination ever given. The republican party has structurally built racist and xenophobic actions into their party since its inception. It has forever been the party of “States rights” and the wealthy, limiting tax breaks for the poor and ignoring the minorities by branding them criminals and people we distrust. A large majority of the country stood with Mitt Romney a businessperson turned politician, that although he didn’t scream racist remarks like a certain orange politician his stances were fundamentally against the lower classes, a thought that keeps the lower classes, poor and continues forcing them to structurally fight to try to stay afloat; his “47%” comments exemplify his ignorance and unwillingness to help the lower classes.
Trump took that Republican undertone of racism and structural prejudice and brought it to the forefront of everyone’s minds and tongues. It’s hard to stand in a crowed of people yelling racist things, but it’s easy to clap and cheer for another person doing exactly that. If anyone asks you “woah man are you all for this racist stuff?!” You give yourself the plausible deniability of being in favor of all of their other policies not the racist ones. Most people don’t take that way out and just outright say that they agree with his idiocy, he gives an outlet for the anger against minority groups. The anger stems from a place of inadequacy, you were not willing to work the hours or for the price the immigrants did, therefore they took your job (given to the immigrants by another non-immigrant that could’ve continued to employ other non-immigrants).
Trump’s appeal stems from Weber’s basic idea of charisma, he captivates the audience by spewing hate and grabbing the audience with plain language they can all understand. He appeals to anyone angry at a lost job, or a politician that hasn’t held their end of a bargain, Trump is a symbol of hate that after he’s denied presidency the people that follow him will likely see the system as rigged, and hate whoever takes his place. They’ll riot the same way they riot after their sports team wins, they’ll go back to shooting people in the street because they don’t belong in their neighborhood or hopefully the president that does take charge is able to provide them with the adequate mental health care they need.
I would’ve never thought that someone like Donald Trump would ever be considered to become President of the United States. I think Donald Trump exemplifies an authoritarian personality because he realizes people are angry and he wants to make people believe that you should build your anger towards certain groups of people like Mexicans or Muslims. He wants to marginalize those who aren’t considered “American”. Trump has this perception that the United States is just falling apart and without his leadership it will continue to get worse. That is what his supporters are agreeing to. But when you analyze his rallies, he doesn’t give many clear ideas of his policies. When I listen to his rallies, all I hear is about him bullying other candidates and emphasizing on how much he has won in previous primaries.
Horkheimer and Adorno say that we are “entering an era distinguished by new forms of Barbarism and Un-reason”. People who support Trump don’t need a lot of reason to choose him as a Presidential candidate. He makes it easy for them to understand that he is the clear choice. What surprises me though is how loyal his supporters are to him even when he tries to insult their intelligence. I remember watching Trump say that he can shoot someone in the middle of the street and he wouldn’t lose any followers. By him saying this, he is implying that he has the power to do anything he wants and still have his supporters. I even remember many of his supporters saying he was just being “funny”. But they’re not really understanding that he’s saying they are dumb enough to vote for him no matter the circumstances. I just think his supporters don’t want a regular politician. They want someone who is blunt about their ideas and someone who can show “real” leadership.
Trump exemplifies a totalitarian personality because he has the basic aspects to convince people that his views are politically correct. His attitude which empowers a specific idea, takes all the blame off the government and organizations and faults structural boundaries leading to blame the lower class. The means of this is to encourage class structure. He speaks to his people about unity regardless of the situation. He reminds his crowd of how loyal they are to him and how much he appreciates them for that. All of this plays into the account of an authoritarian personality in my opinion because the moment you do something that opposes Trumps’ views you are automatically the out-group. The people who are the scapegoat to scarce jobs and high crimes. The reason he’s so appealing to certain personas is because he’s not a confusing politician. Even a person with a middle school education can understand what he is saying and that makes people feel smart. The people want to feel good about themselves, they want a reason to believe that they are superior and that sense of unity that everyone arounds you, has the same beliefs as you encourages such behavior. He’s appealing because he is aware of these things and he reinforces it. Once someone reinforces feelings you’ve kept primarily to yourself you feel a bond and some type of loyalty to that person.
The Enlightenment ideal was that freedom and equality for all was reachable with principles of human reason. For Kant the Enlightenment liberates us from authority. For Horkheimer however the concept of reason was transformed into an irrational force. The Enlightenment became totalitarian. Controlling human behaviors through capitalism and encouraging discriminations through commodities.
If Trump isn’t elected I’m sure that all the rage held people who have been laying low and recently emerged with their hatred of immigrants or specific ethnic groups would react with anger, but I also believe that we are in a new age and although it’s still very oppressing towards minorities, the minorities would not allow for these things to happen directly to them. By that I mean that this election has the potential to cause a civil war between Trump supporters and those who oppose him only because Trump encourages their rage.
Trump exemplifies an authoritarian personality because he has and displays almost total control over the minds and beliefs of his follows. They are willing to defend him and each of his new outrageous policy ideas. People have defended all his statement from putting identifiers on Muslims to calling women pigs and other names, they defend him even when those views aren’t their own. I think he resonates with people because he offers quick, easy, and what they believe to be obvious answers to problems. He panders to people who don’t like to think critically. They don’t want to take the time to understand that when you giving rich people tax cuts that that money doesn’t “trickle” onto them. They like simple answers like Mexicans are just taking their jobs. I honestly believe if he isn’t elected that there will be riots. These people will direct their anger at people they believe didn’t vote for trump or the people they believed stood in his way of being president. They attack people who are the “other” just for being at his rallies they will do much worse if he isn’t elected not only because of their anger but he will direct them to, he’s already dropped hints to them to do so if he isn’t elected and the hold he has on them is incredible.