Authoritarians Anonymous

What would a 12-step program for recovering authoritarians (like myself) look like?

More specifically, would it really require that "we submit to a Power higher than ourselves"??

Think about it. Discuss. :silly:

---

Authoritarian Personality

• excessive conformity
  


• submissiveness to authority
  


• intolerance
  


• insecurity
  


• superstition
  


• rigid, stereotyped thought patterns
  

Notes:
Adorno identified the authoritarian personality type as having these characteristics.

The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders; their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folktales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized of as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic- the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) vs. absolute wrong (the "other" whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)

http://www.gossamer-wings.com/soc/Notes/race/index.htm

Authoritarian Personality
Elements in Terrorism

Harry Rosenberg

If there is a cause for war in our genes, the authoritarian personality is its manifestation. The authoritarian personality is particularly vulnerable to radicalization. This personality type is expressed by rigidity of views, a strong desire to be told what to do, an equally strong desire to tell lessor mortals what to do, and to see all things in a black and white context. Most terrorists fit this mold exactly.

Most authoritarians are basically good people and lead productive lives in pursuits where their particular rigid styles are appropriate in professions such as accounting, the military, and medicine. As leaders, their narrow uncompromising views not only miss the better solutions, but they alienate their peers as well as those of different persuasions. With enough charisma and deceit, they can sway voters into giving them power even in the most advanced democracies. This happens because most voters themselves have a streak of authoritarianism in their personalities.

Adorno's discovery of a connection between racism/fascism and the authoritarian parenting style led him to propose a personality framework that may be described as follows:

While finding comfort in the identification of submissive behavior towards authority, the authoritarian person directs his/her aggression towards other groups, often racial minorities. This is an attempt to relieve the feeling of personal weakness with a search for absolute answers and strengths in the outside world.

According to Adorno, authoritarian personality is expressed essentially by:

• Excessive conformity
• Intolerance
• Insecurity
• Rigid, stereotyped thought patterns
• Submissiveness to authority
• Superstition

Bin Laden, the Fundamentalist Mullahs, and other terrorist leaders are submissive, if only to Allah. In this sense, they are authentic authoritarian personalities.

Authoritarian personalities result from an upbringing of rigid discipline and conditional affection. Adorno identified the authoritarian personality type as having the following characteristics:

"The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders; their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folk tales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic; the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) Vs. absolute wrong (the "other" way whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)"

Further study of this personality type has since shown that Authoritarians not only like to take orders but they love to give them and to have people they can look down upon. This, of course, can amount to bigotry, racism, sexism, and the like.

Two distinctive behavior patterns are submissiveness and aggressiveness. On the surface, these two patterns seem to be at odds, but in fact they usually coexist in the same individual. The Authoritarian Personality wants to fit into a chain of command and to be told what to do (submissive to a superior), and by the same token, will countenance no flak when giving orders to those in the hierarchy below. At the same time s/he is aggressive toward others, especially those considered to be lesser in some way, of a different faith or ethnicity, or a different species. The Hitler Youth were prime examples. Authoritarians like to be herded like sheep even as they enjoy command like Himmler. That mind set exists across all political, economic, and religious spectra. And it can afflict both genders.

<snip>

The Bush Administration exhibits earmarks of authoritarianism, most obviously in its black-and-white thinking, tolerance for bigotry, and support for religious fundamentalism in its public pronouncements and actions. It was Mr. Bush himself who proclaimed to the world: "You are either with us or against us." He is not the first US president to exhibit authoritarian tendencies.

Islam, through the Qu'ran, Hadith, and Shari'ah, in fact requires:

• Conventionalism
• Submission
• Aggression

These are hallmarks of authoritarian personalities. We should not then be surprised that Islam produces more than its share of terrorists and suicide bombers. Islam does not encourage independent thinking; it values submission to Allah and obedience to all in the "chain of command."

<snip>

The American experiences in the My Lai Massacre and the Kent State upheaval motivated Stanley Milgram to formally study the phenomenon by which people blindly follow orders. What he found is as astonishing as it is arresting. Milgram's subjects were led to think they were experimenters in a teaching method that used pain via electrical shock to punish wrong answers. Milgram's subjects dialed the voltage the subjects were to receive, escalating the voltage with each wrong answer.

Quoting from Milgram:

"'No amount of screams and pleading brought this process of visiting violence upon another to a stop.' Milgram found, surprisingly, that 65% of his subjects, ordinary residents of New Haven, were willing to give apparently harmful electric shocks--up to 450 volts--to a pitifully protesting victim, simply because a scientific authority commanded them to, and in spite of the fact that the victim did not do anything to deserve such punishment."

The authoritarian personality is part of most of us.

<snip>

http://www.roadtopeace.org/opinions/perspectives/extremism/authoritarian_personality.htm

Authoritarian personality – Believed to be the result of an upbringing of rigid discipline and conditional affection (Adorno et al. 1950). Its was a discovered connection between racism/fascism and the authoritarian parenting style which led Adorno to attempting to specify a psychodynamic framework as a basis. While finding comfort in the identification of submissive behaviour towards authority, the authoritarian person directs his/her aggression towards other groups, often racial minorities, all in an attempt to {(over)compensate} for the feeling of personal weakness with a search for absolute answers and strengths in the outside world.

---

Authoritarianism
Harry Rosenberg

Authoritarianism is not ethnicity speaking, nor is it religion. Rather it is expressed by a group collective of personal rigidity, intolerance, and conformity. Authoritarian personalities permeate all societies. Fundamentalists of any of the major monotheisms are usually authoritarian personalities. So are dictators.

When substituted for statesmanship, authoritarianism often fails badly. And that is our concern, on both sides of this modern chasm of war and terror versus peace. The mere fact that this personality type also exists in the most peaceful of nations gives us hope that our genetic heritage need not do us in.

Ranena Brooks captures the essence of the danger when an authoritarian becomes head of state:

Thinking Peace --Renana Brooks: "George W. Bush is generally regarded as a mangler of the English language. What is overlooked is his mastery of emotional language--especially negatively charged emotional language--as a political tool. Take a closer look at his speeches and public utterances, and his political success turns out to be no surprise. It is the predictable result of the intentional use of language to dominate others. President Bush, like many dominant personality types, uses dependency-creating language. He employs language of contempt and intimidation to shame others into submission and desperate admiration.

<snip>

In democracies, authoritarians must wear sheep's clothing until their moment arrives. If they have been given enough power by a naive electorate, they can redefine words such as "compassionate" (only for the rich in practice), "conservatism" (further enrich the already rich), and "trust me" (even as mistakes pile on mistakes). They often seem to have enough charisma to persuade others of the beneficence of their authority even in the face of ample evidence to the contrary.

Authoritarians are not limited to politics. Many of the CEOs of the dot.com bust were/are authoritarian personalities. Being an authoritarian provides no guarantee of good character.

<snip>

There seems to be an inescapable connection between monotheism and violence. See for example: Religion and Violence. It therefore is logical to consider authoritarianism as a root cause for most of today's terror.

To expand on the above, consider behavior trends of the US leadership:

• Narrow disciplined outlook, "either/or" thinking ("With us or against us" outlook, Plutocratic political actions that polarize the world into haves and have-nots)
  
• Rigid eagerness to apply death penalty (when there is no proof that such extreme penalties are any deterrent to crime)
  
• Control and power (America-First attitude with respect to the environment, oil resources, and the Women's Rights Treaty; going into Iraq with three allies instead of 30, all apparently to make a statement)
  
• Sexual intolerance (Total disdain for the real accomplishments of the Clinton Administration aside from the Monica scandal)
  
• Destructiveness (weakening gun control laws when guns murder more people than they save; standing by for days of looting in Iraq; neglecting the role of women in Iraq)
  
• Cynicism and arrogance (belief that allies don't matter; redefining words with long established meanings in self-serving ways -- "collateral damage = murdering civilians" for example)
  
• Belief that others {should} see the world as they do (that the Middle East will accept democracy like a row of dominoes falling)
  
• Lack of introspection and insight (Mr. Bush's arrogance can leave no room for these; aides say he never worries about possible error; he formulated a National Security Policy that is reactive, without any search for, or even mention of any need for insight into the reasons behind conflict in the world)
  

In the real world, none of these categories is black and white. Many of us might fit into one or two of the above behaviors. Mr. Bush is certainly fixed in his ideas, sees only the black and white world, demands obedience, and is pushy about religion.

<more>

At first I thought your post was just silliness but after further reading, one BIG authoritiarian comes to mind: *.

The authoritarian description describes he and the misadministration to a tee:

"...They are thus very dualistic- the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) vs. absolute wrong (the "other" whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)"

Yowzah. What could be more descriptive of these "you're-either-with-us-or-against-us" people? Somebody send them some 12-step info, FAST. * could use several other 12-step programs, but this one is a start.

... as well as ('earn' the power) to give them. Please don't confuse 'authoritarian' with 'autocrat' or 'megalomaniac'.


Yes, my initial humor merely introduces what I believe to be a DEADLY SERIOUS subject.

:kick:

Step Two: Surrender to a Higher Power.
Step Three: Obey the Higher Power.
Step Four: Examine your ability to conform.
Step Five: Confess your sins.
Step Six: Beg for forgiveness.
Step Seven: Obsequiously ask for the Higher Power to control you.
...

Hmm... Twelve step programs are a little authoritarian. They seem to feed into the "conform and control" aspects of authoritarianism.

you're "surrendering" to your higher, better, (or deeper) self. it's letting go of ego, ultimately; but it's *not* supposed to be "go ask someone else to tell you what to do."

:evilgrin: Why is it I hear so many saying "FIGMO!" ??

This is critical: Authoritarians have an incredible capacity for contradiction. They are completely blind to their inconsistencies, and also to their failures and the terrible consequences their actions have.

Thus: Bush can go on tv on a particularly ugly day in Iraq, and claim that this is evidence that things are going really well, because all them dang terrierists have been flushed out of their hiding holes and have to face the might of the American army.

Bush claimed the war was to prevent Saddam Hussein from using WMD in an imminent attack against the USA. When they were not found, it was spun as, "So what? Who cares? Saddam Hussein himself was a WMD. We really did it to liberate Iraqis."

Bush claims that the war is moral crusade to liberate Iraqis from the suffering inflicted by a brutal dictator and to establish democracy. The war goes badly, for any number of reasons, and the spin becomes, "The only thing that Arabs understand is unbridled force. We must strike them hard is we are to control them!" Of the Saddam-like abuse in Abu Ghraib, they say, So what? Who cares? All of that was nothing but harmless adolescent pranks."

Beyond their innate brutality, the greater looming consequence of authoritarians in power is that they are incapable of facing the facts of their failures. They will react to criticism by stepping up their efforts. They hope to shield their failures in the fog of chaos.

They cannot be dealt with, they cannot be reasoned with, they are incapable of compromise -- they can only be confronted and defeated. The longer we put it off, the worse things are going to get.

When we're overly reductionist (analytical), we often fail to balance it with the synthesis necessary to comprehend the dynamics of a whole. We can sometimes see this failure in medicine, where 'specialists' frame their understanding -- put boundaries around both the diagnosis and treatment that miss important systemic considerations.

It's important to remember that systems really have no impermeable boundaries. Heisenberg even taught us that the observer is part of the system. There are no truly "exogenous" events, only blinders on the eyes of all participants ... blinders that create framed perceptions of reality, none of which are wholly congruent with another.

When I'm queried about the "reason we were in Viet Nam" I note that there were more than 2.5 million guys in Viet Nam, so there were at least 2.5 million differing sets of "reasons" for "us" to be in Viet Nam. This, of course, is very unsatisfying to people in search of the quick and simple answer, the kind of answer which, like all "quick and simple" answers shares the attribute of also being almost completely wrong.


I guess part of what I'm saying is that it's a universal human condition to be "inconsistent." Some of us tend to obscure those inconsistencies better than others, I guess. That's not to say there's not great value in what you observe. It was even said by Lord Acton ...
"There are two things which cannot be attacked in front:
ignorance and narrow-mindedness.
They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities.
They will not bear discussion." - (Lord Acton)