The Authoritarians - Bob Altemeyer, 2007 torrent

The Authoritarians
2007

Bob Altemeyer
Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Manitoba

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OK, what's this book about? It's about what happened to the American
government after "conservatives" gained control of Congress in the 1990s and
the White House in 2000. It's about the disastrous decisions that government
made, which have created the enormous problems we face now. It's about the
corruption that rotted the Congress. It's about how traditional conservatism
has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It's about how the
"Religious Right" teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its
un-democratic agenda onto the country.

"Well," you might be thinking, "I don't believe any of this is true." Or
maybe you're thinking, "What else is new? I've known this all along." Why
should a conservative, moderate, or liberal bother with this book? Why should
any Republican, Independent, or Democrat click the "Introduction" link on this
page?

Because if you do, you'll begin an easy-ride journey through some relevant
scientific studies I have done on authoritarian personalities--one that will
take you a heck of a lot less time than the decades it took me. Those studies
have a direct bearing on all the topics mentioned above. So if you think the
first paragraph is a lot of hokum, or full of half-truths, I invite you to look
at the research.

For example, take the following statement: "Once our government leaders and
the authorities condemn the dangerous elements in our society, it will be the
duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our
country from within." Sounds like something Hitler would say, right? Want to
guess how many politicians, how many lawmakers in the United States agreed with
it? Want to guess what they had in common?

Or how about a government program that persecutes political parties, or
minorities, or journalists the authorities do not like, by putting them in
jail, even torturing and killing them. Nobody would approve of that, right?
Guess again.

Don't think for a minute this doesn't concern you personally. Let me ask
you, as we're passing the time here, how many ordinary people do you think an
evil authority would have to order to kill you before he found someone who
would, unjustly, out of sheer obedience, just because the authority said to?
What sort of person is most likely to follow such an order? What kind of
official is most likely to give that order, if it suited his purposes? Look at
what experiments tell us, as I did.

If, on the other hand, you're way ahead of me, and believe the extreme
right-wing elements in America are still working to take over the country
despite the recent election--nay because of it--I think you can still get a
lot from this book. The authoritarians aren't going away.

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This book can also be downloaded for free:
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

A calc-sheet is included to help the reader summarize their
scores on the first three "tests" from the first chapter. Enjoy!