Left/Right Wing Authoritarianism?

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   tsmogposted 3 years ago

   Where does Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Left Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) come from? They both are personality types with traits within psychology. They do not describe the general populous of either conservative or liberal spectrums since results of individuals will vary. Those with strong measures are closer to 20 – 25 percent for each, which may be synonymous with extremism.
   
   A good background article on LWA while touching on RWA is from the New Statesman a left leaning British magazine ; Is there such a thing as left-wing authoritarian
   
   RWA is described by the Psychological Association Dictionary below.
   “A theoretical refinement of the theory of the authoritarian personality that identifies political conservatism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism as key predictors of prejudice, racism, and right-wing extremism. [first proposed in 1981 by Canadian social psychologist Robert A. Altemeyer]”
   
   LWA from the investigation of T.H. Costello is the following quote.
   “[l]eft-wing authoritarians were lower in dog-matism and cognitive rigidity, higher in negative emotionality, and expressed stronger support for apolitical system with substantial centralized state control. Our results also indicate that LWA power-fully predicts behavioral aggression and is strongly correlated with participation in political violence.”
   
   A question is can those be used to explain recent events seen with the summer riots and the riot at the Capitol on Jan 6th considering that it is 20 – 25 percent that are measured extremist? As well as the range of political leaders today?
   
   For the inquiring mind below are two assessments from IDRlabs. They do have a degree of validity, yet should be taken with a very big grain of salt and possibly a sense of humor.
   
   Right Wing/Left Wing Authoritarianism from a neutral position
   https://www.idrlabs.com/right-wing-left … m/test.php
   
   Right Wing Authoritarianism specifically
   https://www.idrlabs.com/right-wing-auth … m/test.php
   
   Left Wing Authoritarianism specifically
   https://www.idrlabs.com/left-wing-autho … m/test.php

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      Kyler J Falkposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      This sounds to me like it is an attempt at making correlation seem as if it is causation, and that is a logical fallacy in and of itself. The, "extremism," we saw  during the lockdown protests, the BLM protests/riots, and the Capitol, "riot," were not immediate products of authoritarian personalities. I wouldn't even go as far as to speculate on the majority having some sort of anomalous authoritarian trait.
      
      Political, geopolitical, race, and all the other issues you could think of are constantly, unrelentingly bombarding almost everyone at all hours of the day via social media, the radio, the news, etc. When you lock people in ideological cages, forcing them to prod one another with pointy sticks made of opposing abstract realities day in and day out, then physically force them to stay inside with nothing more than these disgusting sources of their own misery, I'd say a stunning increase in violence is only natural.
      
      Perhaps, at most, I could say our government/rulers took a staunch authoritarian shift, and thus our social influencers have decided to adopt an unhealthy idea of what authority should be. Like with these vaccinations, we have so many different types but COVID is the only one where EVERYONE feels obligated to get it. You either feel it is your duty to get the jab, or everything you see, read, and hear is intentionally making you feel as if you're in more danger than just from a virus if you do not.
      
      Refining an analysis of someone's psychology into a staunch political arena is not only irrespective of basic psychology making such a refinement inaccurate and impossible, but it is irresponsible. There's no value in defining something that can't be accurately measured in any meaningful way outside of a rare few individuals, and will most likely evolve from issue to issue. You could, possibly, say someone has right or left-leaning tendencies, but a full diagnosis would be so rare that it would be more likely a sign of environmental influence than mental deficiency.
      
      Then again, I may have misunderstood what all of this is trying to say.

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         tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you for the reply and critique. I appreciate your perspective with an alternative reasoning for the cause of the riots answering the question. I'll consider inference fallacies more closely in the future with creating a forum post.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   Authoritarianism is extremism on either side.

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3. 81

   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   "Fanatical means having and being motivated by an extreme and often unquestioning enthusiasm, devotion, or zeal for something, such as a religion, political stance, or cause. A person who shows such extreme enthusiasm or devotion is called a fanatic."

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4. 81

   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   Freedom is to faction as air is to fire.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   QUESTION:
   What is the check on liberty, (via freedom speech?)
   This question is the one to focus on.
   
   What does Federalist Paper No. 10 say?
   
   "By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community."

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      tsmogposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the tip with Federalist Paper #10. I read a summary on it after seeing your post. I hope in the future I will be able to read all the essays as well as the history of the writing of the Constitution.

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         Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         It is not easy to read or understand the essays, but they are so vital in understanding the basis of our constitution.
         I hope in the future you  d e t e r m i n e  to read them.
         

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   ANSWER:
   Morals.
   Well informed citizenry.
   A large arena of ideas.
   Free exchange of ideas.
   Live-and-let live attitude.
   No sanctioned religion.
   Two Party System.
   Rule of law based on liberty and justice.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   I step away extremists and fanatics. For instance, I will not exchange words with anyone who comes to my door and asks me whether or not I got the vaccine.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   James Madison further explains:
   "The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good. So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts. But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views.
   
   The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and  i n v o l v e s  the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government."
   
   From paper ten of The Federalist Papers written by James Madison on November 22, 1787.
   
   https://billofrightsinstitute.org/prima … list-no-10

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

   "The regulation of these various and interfering interests forms the principal task of modern legislation, and  i n v o l v e s  the spirit of party and faction in the necessary and ordinary operations of the government."
   
   This sentence discusses the importance of including all factions and their ideas and moderating them through legislation / making of laws which can be mutually beneficial.

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    Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

    Factions are created by groups of people with DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW concerning:
    
    1.) Religion
    
    2.) Government
    
    3.) Different leaders, (ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power.)
    
    4.) Persons of other descriptions, (whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions (such as Sorros?)
    
    These differing viewpoints
    - divide mankind into parties,
    - inflame them with mutual animosity
    - cause them to vex one another
    - oppress each other rather than co-operate with one another for the benefit of the 
    
                                                  COMMON GOOD

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    Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

    vex
    make (someone) feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried, especially with trivial matters.
    "the memory of the conversation still vexed him"

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    Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

    THE FEDERALIST PAPERS address the following CONCERNS:
    I. The Dangers of Foreign Force/Influence on The States.
    II. The Dangers of Dissensions Between the States:
         A. The UNION as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection.
         B. The Utility of the UNION in Regards to Commercial Relations and the Navy.
         C. The Utility of the UNION In Regards to Revenue.
         D. The Advantage of the UNION in Regards to Economy in Government.
         E. The Necessity of a Government, (as Energetic as the One Proposed) to Preserve the UNION.
    III. Objections to the Proposed Constitution From the Extent of Territory.
    IV. The Inability of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union.
         A. The Difficulties of the Convention to Devise a Proper
    Form of Government (Exposing the Incoherence of the Objections to the New Plan.)
    V. Powers Necessary for Common Defense.   
         A. Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to Common Defense, Concerning the Militia.
    VI. General Power of Taxation.
    VII. The Conformity of the New Plan to Republican Principles.
    VIII. The Powers of the Convention to Form a Mixed Government.
    IX. The Powers Conferred by The Constitution.
        A. Considering The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments.
    X. Comparing The Influence of State and Federal Governments.
    XI. The Particular Structure of the New Government and the Distribution of Power Among It’s Different Parts.
        A.  Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other.
        B. Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention.
    XII. Considering Periodical Appeals to the People.
    XIII. The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments:
         A. The House of Representatives:
             1. The Apportionment of Members Among the States.
             2. Total Number of the House of Representatives. 
             3. Considering The Alleged Tendency of the New Plan to Elevate the Few at the Expense of the Many in Connection to Representation.
              4. Considering the Objection That the Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the Progress of Population Demands.
              5. The Power of Congress to Regulate Election of Members.
         B. The Senate:
             1. The Powers of Senate.
             2. Objections to the Power of Senate To Set as a Court for Impeachments.
         C. The Executive Department: 
             1. The real character of the Executive
             2. Duration in Office
             3. Re-Eligibility
             4. Provision For The Support of the Executive.
             5. Veto Power.
             6. Command of the Military and Naval Forces.
             7. Pardoning Power.
             8. Treaty-Making.
             9. Appointing Power.
            10. Other Powers 
         D. The Judiciary Department:
             1. Distribution of the Judicial Authority.
             2. The Judiciary in Relation to Trial by Jury.
    XIV. Certain General and Miscellaneous Objections to the Constitution Considered and Answered.

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    Kathryn L Hillposted 3 years ago

    We have new issues, but human nature never changes. This is why our US Constitution is a living document that can always be trusted to help us maintain our rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ...
    AND:
    - establish Justice
    - insure Domestic Tranquility
    - provide for the Common Defense
    - promote the General Welfare (not in the form of government aid)
    - secure the Blessings of Liberty for American citizens and generations to come.

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