LogFAQs > #886943809

I think this is confirming something we understood going all the way back to the primaries, really.

Thanks for posting this. Seems to me that the relative deprivation is what is driving people's increased authoritarian views, as their perception of 'losing out' relative to those beneath them drives a desire for leadership that will re-establish the conventional social strata (read: keep those poor people poorer than me!).

It is consistent with the harvard 'elephant chart' that I posted about long ago.

http://harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2016/06/branko-milanovic-elephant-chart-brexit.html

Globalization and mechanization is helping many, many people, but the people it's not helping have traditionally enjoyed an advantaged life, and now they are seeing their expectations go unmet.

Historically, similar such economic problems plagued the nations that embraced fascism in the 1920s and 30s. Hopefully we can pivot and avoid doing the same.

Obligatory:



Authoritarianism from the middle class in reaction to this really does seem like them falling into a trap set by the upper class. The beneficiaries in authoritarian systems are entirely those who control capital.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.