Authoritarians are only as strong as their followers, but did you know that authoritarians actually weaken and exploit their own followers? Indeed, they do.
Authoritarians are actually weak!
Sure, they can see larger than life, be charming, witty, or even calculating and shrewd – all that is a façade. They are actually very insecure people who are so far up their own behind that they have convinced themselves that they are super-human, and the under some religions “god’s gift to mankind.” I’m not even kidding.
Most authoritarians, and “authoritarians wanna-be” will display some of the following traits. This is not an all-inclusive list of red flags… but they should be enough for you to start digging a bit more onto their character idiosyncrasies.
- They whine a lot! Much like ill-mannered toddlers, or misguided prepubescent teenagers; except that they are a lot older, and somehow think that being a pedantic-name-calling-immature-goon is ok. It is not.
- They surround themselves by people who will kiss their butt. These people will become a rubber stamp to their antics and do mental gymnastics to justify the unjustifiable to others outside the group – even if they themselves cannot stand this person’s guts.
- They take no accountability and will pretend or outright say that they are never wrong. And of course, their aforementioned acolytes will parrot the same talking points verbatim and will likely be very aggressive to anybody who calls them on any [of the likely many] inconsistencies that they spew.
- They exploit people’s biases. This can be very evident pretty much whenever they accuse their opposition of doing or planning on doing something nefarious. Then surprise-surprise it is something they (the authoritarian) end up doing themselves, or there is already a precedent that they have been enacted that exact shady action they are accusing others of doing – even if their opposition has never enacted those nefarious actions.
- They are petty and won’t fight an important issue on the merits – not ever. Because they are actually incapable of doing so. But if they address it, then it will likely turn into an ambush-style “date-me-bro” type scenario. Because they’re not really interested on answering a legitimate question with facts, but rather create a visceral response that might seem like a “sick burn” to those who are too shortsighted to realize that they are worshiping an adult who has not matured, and continues to act like a 1980’s high-school bully
I can go on, but these should get the brain-wheels running. If you want more examples, I’ve literally written over 100 articles and released two books about this topic, all available on this site. And there is a lot to read, because the level of collective cognitive dissidence the world is facing is gigantic, and it was specifically designed to put our population into the negative situation we find ourselves in right now.
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They draw their power from you!
This is directed not only to those who are in favor of the authoritarian, but also a warning for those against said authoritarian. They want you to lose your cool and give up on actually finding common ground through dialog and problem solving. And of course, they want the platform. In other words, Authoritarians are losers, but they will pose as the “cool kid” by attacking whoever is at a potential disadvantage.
They tend to be very much emboldened by faux-bravado – so long their “friends” are able to rescue them. But if they are on a one-one feud they will fold like an origami dove. That is why they draw power from the attention they get by their adoring followers. And that is also the reason why they double down when somebody calls them out, and they will move the goal post, or change the narrative to fit their immediate “debate-me-bro” event. These tactics are actually pretty pathetic when you see it pragmatically.
But most importantly, if you’re their follower they are insulting YOU, because you’re their first victim. They will either con you out of money, time, effort, and make you believe you should be grateful for the “privilege” of being allowed to kiss their butt whenever they feel like it. Oh, and also feel grateful if they disavow you for disagreeing with them – because how dare you not show unlimited obedience and loyalty to them? Right? By the way, you’re disposable to them.
And the reason why they are so weak is because no matter how “successful” they might look, their accomplishments are always below what they touted to be. That means that no matter how high their position, rank, or stature they attained, they will always feel like they are second best, because they already lied to be better than they truly are – that is why they overcompensate to act as though they have to be number one on everything. Again, this is pretty pathetic.
They will attack others mercilessly, but they have very thin skin if anybody points out their idiosyncrasies. But remember, the authoritarian projects their insecurities onto their followers. Even if they did not share the same insecurities at first, this projection exploits their biases and exacerbates them to the point where these vulnerabilities become very real. Much like when you’re in a toxic relationship that is changing you for the worse. Authoritarianism is similar but a lot more complex on scale and scope.
If you forget absolutely everything I just said in this article, remember this. The authoritarians are weak, and they only draw strength from your attention and outrage. The best way to defeat them is by understanding the full context of any argument, and accept if you’ve been mistaken, and take steps to correct your path. No matter if you’re for or against this authoritarian, the truth can be found by pairing intellectual honesty with critical thinking. HLC