606 What drives the extreme right?
1, honest believers in the values of the free markets they
promote
2. narcists promoting themselves
3. gluttons of power
4. destroying democratic institutions to carve a path
towards an authoritarian regime with them at the top
Combinations of these motives are possible.
Followers:
1. believers in unconstrained markets that require
laissez faire, to promote welfare
2. flight from the opposite, leftist stream, which they
love to hate
3. to belong to
the rightist group, to give a sense of community, as a tribe, regardless of its
lies and lack of arguments
4. to harbour a lustful revenge for presumed wrongs,
ascribed to the left
5. rejection of immigrants, out of racism or prejudice
and xenophobia
6. gullibility, in disregarding lies and nonsensical
conspiracy theories
7. taking the leader as a role model, a hero, saviour
8. love of disorder, upheaval, the feast of rebellion and
aggression
9. fear of loss of welfare and desire for order and
simplicity, even if it is unjust
10.
dumbing down,
cultivation of ignorance, and disregard or even disdain for the truth as handed
down by officials, the mainstream press and specialists
Perhaps the last item (no. 10) is the most ominous. It is understandable
that the low educated and menial workers have a grievance for having been
looked down upon or being disrespected for a long time, since the
Enlightenment, in the 17th century, but a society cannot exist
without some respect for truth. I admit that literal, objective truth is
debatable. Facts are often not objective but ‘theory laden’, but that is often
exaggerated. They can often rest on evidence everyone can agree upon. I adopt
Dewey’s notion of ‘warranted assertability’: you must come with logical
coherence, ascertainable facts, how what you assert came about, and practical
usefulness.
Without it, human existence goes haywire. Reason is surrendered to
‘influencers’, who vent opinions without argument.
What to do about this? One should not call people stupid. That will slam
the door on communication, and invoke more invective and innuendo on social
media. But one can press people to come with facts when they assert something,
or come with an account of why what they condemn comes about. People do not indulge
in the dumbing down out of lack of intelligence or knowledge. Highly educated
people take part in tolerating the dumbing down out of empathy for the grievances
of people, or indifference to the loss of truth.