You Can’t Fake Forever

One Response to You Can’t Fake Forever

1. karl says:

   7/11/2006 at 4:25 pm

   From countdowm:

   DEAN: Goldwater Republicanism is really R.I.P. It’s been put to rest by most of the people who are now active in moving the movement further to the right than it’s ever been. I think that Senator [Goldwater], before he departed, was very distressed with Conservatism. In fact, it was our conversations back in 1994 that started this book. That’s really where I began. We wanted to find answers to the question, “Why were Republicans acting as they were?” — Why Conservatives had taken over the party and were being followed as easily as they were in taking the party where [Goldwater] didn’t want it to go.

   OLBERMANN: What did you find? — In less than the 200 pages that the book goes into.

   DEAN: I ran into a massive study that has really been going on 50 years now by academics. They’ve never really shared this with the general public. It’s a remarkable analysis of the authoritarian personality. Both those who are inclined to follow leaders and those who jump in front and want to be the leaders. It was not the opinion of social scientists. It was information they drew by questioning large numbers of people — hundreds of thousands of people — in anonymous testing where [the subjects] conceded their innermost feelings and reactions to things. And it came out that most of these people were pre-qualified to be conservatives and this, did indeed, fit with the authoritarian personality.

   OLBERMANN: Did the studies indicate that this really has anything to do with the political point of view? Would it be easier to impose authoritarianism over the right than it would the left? Is it theoretically possible that it could have gone in either direction and it’s just a question of people who like to follow other people?

   DEAN: They have found, really, maybe a small, 1%, of the left who will follow authoritarianism. Probably the far left. As far as widespread testing, it’s just overwhelmingly conservative orientation.

   OLBERMANN: There is an extraordinary amount of academic work that you quote in the book. A lot of it is very unsettling. It deals with psychological principles that are frightening and may have faced other nations at other times. In German and Italy in the 30’s, come into mind in particular. But, how does it apply now? To what degree should it scare us and to what degree is it something that might be forestalled?

   DEAN: To me, it was something of an epiphany to run into this information. First, I’d never read about it before. I sort of worked my way into it until I found it. It’s not generally known out there, what’s going on. I think, from the best we can tell, these people — the followers — a few of them will change their ways when the realize that they are doing — not even aware of what they are doing. The leaders, those inclined to dominate, they’re not going to change for a second. They’re going to be what they are. So, by and large, the reason I write about this is, I think we need to understand it. We need to realize that when you take a certain step of vote a certain way, heading in a certain direction, where this can end up. So, it’s sort of a cautionary note. It’s a warning as to where this can go. Other countries have gone there.

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