tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5823597614278402895.post524773551362339121..comments2022-03-25T07:28:47.226-07:00Comments on A Freedomist View: Authoritarianism On The WayR.J. Rummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04198556976988573716noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5823597614278402895.post-80275761877228535332010-09-25T09:12:14.980-07:002010-09-25T09:12:14.980-07:00Wow! I first read Rummel's treatment of a coup...Wow! I first read Rummel's treatment of a couple different aspects of civilization, and altho I started to get a feeling that perhaps some cherry-picked stats were being offered as evidence for his theories on democracy, war, deaths rates per gov. ideology, etc. I didn't have the stats to prove it so I just kept reading, albeit with skeptical reserve. <br /><br />But now I come across this screed and see the same Tea Party/GOP talking points regarding the evils of Obama that one can find on any given day being pushed by FOX onto the viewers they know are cognitively incapable of critical analysis of their stories, whose high-RWA (authoritarian follower) status means they will also be extremely deferential regarding whatever they hear for excuses re: GOP foul-ups, TP embarrassments...really anything their in-group sources tell them is true. <br /><br />This is the same low-calibre rhetoric thats been pushed by Beck, Newsmax, Freepers, and those other echo-chambers that high-RWAs must use to avoid having to learn something that might possibly force them to reevaluate some part of their existing beliefs system. That creates fear and thoughts of mortality to suddenly rise in just this one particular idealogical strain. Not in MOTR types nor even in the far left. Needs for closure, certainty, regulatory focus, low cognitive complexity, increased fear and aggression.... All these and more now strongly suggest that at least for quite a few people who have adopted political conservatism, it seems they arrived at it...not as a result of any thoughtful comparisons made on the relative merits of each system, but rather they were compelled to it by a psychological syndrome that results in cognitive impairments of a sort that require following some simplistic "Us and Them, right and wrong" dualism, the slogans and rhetoric (eg. the "talking points" reference I made earlier) that seem so common among US RW conservatives lately. <br />And sadly...he appears to be yet another high-RWA. Or perhaps one of those more rare SDOs who put out this kind of stuff in hopes they attract a following of their own. Is that it?Mycoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14810219250804482121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5823597614278402895.post-19054568802187551402010-05-10T20:50:51.641-07:002010-05-10T20:50:51.641-07:00I am neither more nor less free since Obama took o...I am neither more nor less free since Obama took office. The only thing that you can argue that his administration has done in that regard is require the purchase of health insurance—and that's not in effect for another couple of years. (And I for one don't think that making everyone ensure that they are covered—so that medical care overall isn't made more expensive by people who can't pay and thus get care and then skip out on their bill—is such a bad idea at all.)<br /><br />I did, however, become a whole lot less free during G. W. Bush's terms in office. I and other Americans, for instance, rightfully feel concerned about the PATENTLY illegal phenomenon known as warrant-less wiretapping (which started under Bush and continues under Obama). And don't give me any "trust the government to do the right thing and attend to only the phone calls/electronic messages of terrorists" hooey, either. Not unless you're prepared to extend precisely the same amount and kind of trust the Obama administration, or any other administration with which you philosophically disagree.<br /><br />I long for the day when political criticism exceeds the bounds of partisanship. I'm just a professor who was poking around looking for such criticism when I ran across some references to Dr. Rummel.<br /><br />Needless to say, I was sadly disappointed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5823597614278402895.post-50504975749899583382009-07-05T13:06:38.015-07:002009-07-05T13:06:38.015-07:00Why do you say that secularism is the new US natio...Why do you say that secularism is the new US national religion? I can't think of any changes that Obama's made in this area. I was surprised when I read this, as I've never seen you talk about religion much beforehand.<br /><br />I've just looked at your website's FAQ, and you say on there that all communist and fascist governments were secular. That's not true: Franco's Spain was both fascist and strongly Catholic. Also, Mussolini's Italy had Catholicism as the state religion, although it seems likely that Mussolini himself was an atheist.Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04081841460525341333noreply@blogger.com