No. of Recommendations: 2
The authoritarian project doesn't have to be right on the facts. Anger and fear win votes. Deliverism does not win votes.
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Why voters aren't impressed by 'Bidenomics', August 01, 2023
"People are capable of voting to increase the minimum wage and supporting an authoritarian candidate at the same time... If there's this kind of roiling discontent, this deep unhappiness, the authoritarian right-wing project speaks directly to it, it invents people to blame for why things are so bad. That may be immigrants, it may be people of color, it may be trans communities. The targets of the anger may shift, but there always is a villain. It creates a sense of a "we." We are in this together. The supporters experience these kinds of ecstatic moments in these authoritarian rallies. It provides that sense of community and belonging. And it really taps into emotion, mostly anger and fear. And it goes to that visceral sense of something not being right, and someone's going to do something about it. And in that context, the authoritarian project doesn't have to be right on the facts.
wbur.org - Why voters arent impressed by bidenomicsRobert Kennedy on measuring wealth (1968)
ROBERT KENNEDY: Too much and for too long we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things.
YouTube: Robert Kennedy on measuring wealth (1968) (Kalen Academy)RONALD REAGAN: The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
YouTube: The President's News Conference - 8/12/86 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute)The Death of 'Deliverism'
By Deepak Bhargava Shahrzad Shams Harry Hanbury
From June 22, 2023, 1:30 Pm ' 25 Min Read
"'deliverism'... broadly describes an approach to governing that focuses on enacting and implementing policies to improve people's lives... deliverism is proving ineffectual as a response to authoritarianism... Happiness, measured in a variety of ways, has been on the decline for decades in the United States, and this phenomenon is crucial to understanding the cultural sources of the authoritarian turn... The causes of rising unhappiness are complex, but they surely have roots in the failures of a neoliberal economic regime that has fostered insecurity, isolation, anxiety, and fear'and was brought about by politicians in both political parties... Being extremely unhappy more than doubled a person's likelihood of voting for Trump in 2016... The emotional alchemy of the authoritarian approach is so strong that it can override facts and material reality... It works because it offers a kind of psychic release, an outlet for powerful emotions to find expression... Importantly, authoritarianism does not depend on solving people's problems to succeed politically; indeed, its genius is to harness and feast on unhappiness without trying to reduce it... Policies that deliver economic benefit without speaking to, reinforcing, and constructing a social identity are likely to have little political impact.
democracyjournal.org - The death of deliverismDemocracy (journal)
"It was founded as a forum for progressive and liberal ideas by Kenneth Baer and Andrei Cherny in 2006. Modeled after conservative journals like Commentary and The National Interest,[2] the editors put forward Democracy as "a place where ideas can be developed and important debates can be spurred" at a "time when American politics has grown profoundly unserious."[3]"
Wikipedia: Democracy - Wikipedia(journal)
