I say it sincerely: If you did a NTSB-style breakdown of Signalgate (its origins, the incident, the aftermath), it would be a compelling study of how authoritarianism is a kind of demon that possesses people and processes and makes them stupid.
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Stupidity, according to Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity, is an inevitably social phenomenon.
He observes that in groups people succumb to pressures & influences, losing a grasp on their autonomy and moral reasoning.
To Bonhoeffer, stupidity is not an intellectual defect at all; it is a moral one.
I've made numerous comparisons to the early days of the Third Reich and one thing people always seem to forget is how one man, surrounding himself with incompetent sycophants leads to some of the most idiotic, catty, conniving, little people bringing down the regime with their own stupidity.
Authoritarianism doesn't make people stupid, stupid people are authoritarian. It's not a character flaw, it's an inability for your brain to work properly.
To believe in authoritarianism you have to be able to believe untrue things you know are untrue are true. That's not intelligence.
You're factually wrong. Authoritarianism is what makes people stupid, not the other way around. People are raised to be authoritarian and they're conditioned to not think deeply. https://theauthoritarians.org/
There's some people who appear to be innately less susceptible to authoritarian conditioning, and many people have experiences that reveal the flaws of authoritarianism.
That's not what I'm doing. Facts aren't apologetics. If you're actually opposed to authoritarianism then you need to know what actually causes it. Just saying that they're stupid isn't going to do shit.
And yeah, exceptions prove the rule. There are also people who grow up to not be abusive to others, that doesn't mean that a history of abuse doesn't massively increase epidemiological risk.
In a purely theoretical way I would agree with you, however the current threat is not theoretical. The people who are authoritarian in this society are all well educated, they have years of experience in how government is supposed to run, how it is meant to be fair, they reject it all.
Please step back and see this for what it is. They broke the law endangered the mission and national security and released a name of a CIA agent in the clear. But in Trump/Putin's mind even this is a success creating more Division/Chaos for our country.
Stupid people are attracted to fascism first because they are incompetent at everything except sucking up to con artist dictators. It’s the pinnacle of their careers.
Ya don't say? Here's a look at a possible stupidification process
I use Carlo Cipolla's functional definitions of stupidity and intelligence, combined with Bill Mollison's definition of evil as "stupidity, rigorously applied."
The Russian invasion of Ukraine was botched in such catastrophically stupid ways that it left a lot of people scratching their heads but we can see why in our own context. So much just comes down to entitlement, feeling that rules don’t apply to you even if the rules are there for good reasons.
Well, for starters, Russia has spent 3 years trying and failing to accomplish what America did to Iraq (a successful invasion and capture of the central government).
They haven't even come close to the "local insurgencies make occupation unsustainable" phase yet.
It draws the stupid to the top. In a news world where intelligence is valued over loud and obnoxious Hesgeth would have been working a low paying job maybe screaming to 500 followers in truth social. Not a Fox News host.
I don’t know about that. Some people are already stupid. Authoritarianism is a demon that attracts stupid (as well as greedy and insecure and just plain mean).
Stupid, but also incredibly arrogant, because they assume that their cult-base will never protest or question anything they do.
Sadly, they may be correct in that regard.
It’s crazy: it’s like the psychopath’s ultimate survival skill is to work it’s way into power then annihilate any perceived threats to control using genocide. Humanity needs a better warning system.
The malice can be explained by downsizings and cuttings across govt. Defund, shut down, and divert as much government funding to their private control. Techbro fascism is his new venture. Musk, Vance, and the Yarvin enthusiasts they’ve placed into positions have big plans. https://youtu.be/VeVhHNSe9Ks?...
I'd wager that mostly it's just stupid people who lean into authoritarianism because they cannot EARN respect and forcing it is the only available option.
Couldn’t agree more. Authoritarians become quickly drunk on power. To make the drug dealer comparison “Don’t get high on your own supply!” That’s exactly what we are watching. 💊 💉
I agree but believe have to be stupid to begin with because no moral compass exists .I am sick of hearing how many "Poor" repubs in congress are afraid of trump when the Dems aren't Truth is they are ALL amoral swine afraid to give up the pay & lobby $ they are given for gutting our programs
Up to a point. While there’s lots of sloppiness and general uselessness on display (eg. inviting Goldberg!) the core decision to trust Signal over US government communications makes sense if your main enemy is in fact the US government (esp. its document-retention systems) not any foreign actor.
Nope. Its not helpful to characterize this situation at all in terms used by the mentally deranged. Demons dont exist. These people are simply subhuman.
Also how being bigoted literally makes you dumber. Hegseth is dumb for many reasons, but him assuming his white dick makes him more qualified than others and refusing to get info that shows him he's wrong is a huge part of this.
One thing I don't mention in that post is the direct exocognitive role that diversity plays in consciousness raising (imagination, creativity, problem solving, functional intelligence, etc). Pathologizing diversity literally dumbs us down, and it is a necessary step for authoritarians.
I would argue that authoritarianism doesn't "make them stupid". It SELECTS them because they are stupid because the selection criteria ignores competence and focuses on loyalty. That's how Rudy Giuliani winds up as you lawyer.
Authoritarianism does indeed promote stupidity, but this regime seems stupid even by authoritarian standards. Past authoritarian regimes managed to wage vast wars of conquest and genocide, while this one can't even plan a simple air raid without tripping over itself.
It always has been. My generation was forbidden from criticizing it. I was always pointing out how stupid everything was, and everyone was always telling me to stop being so negative. Like... It's not a superficial insult. None of the adults in my life had functioning brains. It is horrifying.
Sorry you never got to see real adults acting accordingly. I'm 61, raised by parents that survived the Great Depression and fought WW2, sober adulting was all around me.
Thanks. Nope, I just get shit on for not knowing how to be something no one ever showed me how to be. Abuse and victim-blaming defines boomer treatment of millennials. Ruined my life. 😵💫 Doing what I can. Will never be manly adult man, but can still fight for something.
Don't be so hard on yourself, it's okay to be unaware of certain things and masculinity is nebulous and poorly defined in many eras of human existence.
Thank you. 🙂 You're right, I just wish I could've had a real shot at all this. I'm 33 and just hoping to survive fascism. If I'm lucky I'll get a chance to rebuild after. I'll never have my own life, it was ended when we moved from my childhood home. I'm more worried for kids trapped in cults today.
It's a personality type. People need to be better at spotting them as they do hide who they are until they get power. They need to be blocked from power and removed from society as much as possible.
In this case, they weren't hiding very well. A large chunk of the American public and pretty much everyone else around the world have been screaming warnings for 20+ years. Maybe just listen.
As much as I agree with you, it's not like tЯ☭mp wasn't absolutely clear about who he was and what he wanted to do with his second term. They went all in on the fascism and still people refused to believe it.
No, It’s a mixture of nurture and nature. Most of them are born that way and have a warped world view. How they raised can either make that worse or better, but it won’t stop it.
Other research shows that human nature tends far more towards egalitarianism. Authoritarianism must be specifically nurtured. Some people by nature appear to be more susceptible to authoritarian conditioning, but that has nothing to do with innate "intelligence".
SAME. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAS TO BE DONE. REMOVAL! ALL OF THEM! absolutely out of power, out of control of anything more important than their bowel functions.
People need to stop tolerating them and start coming down hard on their horrible behaviours. Too many people give them a pass In the name of kindness, but all it does is allow them to hurt others more.
He doesn’t pick people that are competent he picks people that will say yes to him no matter what he asks and he also is blackmailing the shit out of everybody
They're actually this dumb. Not because innate measurable intelligence is a thing. It's because authoritarianism actively conditions people away from thinking critically about anything.
I am not superstitious and I'm not a believer in the supernatural but I've always said I think it's a very useful metaphor or heuristic to view the whole MAGA movement as a very frightening and powerful case of demonic possession. In a real sense, Trump is a devil.
Their only qualification for their positions was their willingness to go along with whatever Trump does, no matter how unconstitutional or outrageous and their constant flattery of Trump.
PSYCHOPATHS Putin’s/Trump’s/Eloon’s MAGAs are a redux of PSYCHOPATH Hitler’s Nazis = psychopaths (1 in 25 persons in the general population) & their psychotic human pets.
History’s confirmed that these stupid, fragile, gaslighting, SADISTIC PERVERTS will grow HORRIFICALLY worse until stopped.
They are more than stupid... Their complete lack of experience and utter incompetence is the point. Remove experts, academics, and experienced brass. Replace them with loyalists who will do whatever bidding you want. It's by design. Trash the system and become the savior... #FascismInAmerica
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Psychiatrist expert on violence. She writes of, not a demon, but a virus.
He observes that in groups people succumb to pressures & influences, losing a grasp on their autonomy and moral reasoning.
To Bonhoeffer, stupidity is not an intellectual defect at all; it is a moral one.
To believe in authoritarianism you have to be able to believe untrue things you know are untrue are true. That's not intelligence.
At best we are debating chicken vs egg.
And yeah, exceptions prove the rule. There are also people who grow up to not be abusive to others, that doesn't mean that a history of abuse doesn't massively increase epidemiological risk.
It goes without saying that they’re stupid.
Also called the Fascist Peter Principle.
I use Carlo Cipolla's functional definitions of stupidity and intelligence, combined with Bill Mollison's definition of evil as "stupidity, rigorously applied."
They haven't even come close to the "local insurgencies make occupation unsustainable" phase yet.
Sadly, they may be correct in that regard.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer had some extremely pertinent thoughts on the subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoReVkF-UZ0&t=45s&pp=ygUUYm9uaG9lZmZlciBzdHVwaWRpdHk%3D
https://youtu.be/VeVhHNSe9Ks?...
As is zero shame.
That's Ancient Greek for Idiocracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kakistocracy
NTSB does 'human factors' analysis really well and thoroughly, traced through time.
What the GOP, and later, Trumpism has done to the minds of its natsec people since 2000 is disguting. Their minds are grotesques now.
Use this number: (202) 224-3121
Demand they fight for the removal of Hegseth, Waltz, Gabbard and anyone else who lied under oath or compromised national security.
It's an easy call. All you have to know is your Congressperson's name and it will connect you.
He doesn’t pick people that are competent he picks people that will say yes to him no matter what he asks and he also is blackmailing the shit out of everybody
If I was religious I would be rather suspicious.
Their only qualification for their positions was their willingness to go along with whatever Trump does, no matter how unconstitutional or outrageous and their constant flattery of Trump.
History’s confirmed that these stupid, fragile, gaslighting, SADISTIC PERVERTS will grow HORRIFICALLY worse until stopped.
Not even to mention venal.