General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What I've learned about conservatives in the last few months [View all]AdHocSolver
(2,561 posts)Extremists of the right and of the left exhibit highly authoritarian personalities which precludes them from even questioning, let alone challenging, those who are, or are perceived as being, authority figures.
Right wing authority figures provide credence to those of lower social stature to vent their hostility against those who oppose the authority figures. In other words, those of lower social stature are encouraged to displace their anger from the one percent to those members of the 99 percent who question the motives and actions of the one percent.
The emotions of fear, hatred, and self-loathing drive authoritarian extremists to exhibit a "mob" mentality devoid of any logic. Occasionally, it is possible to reason with them if they aren't in an emotionally agitated state.
The main way to deal with authoritarian leaders is to diminish the leaders' stature in the eyes of their followers.
This is why the right wing continues to claim that President Obama was not born in the U.S. even though it is beyond doubt that he was. The right wing attacks Obama's citizenship solely to demean his authority among the gullible.
The authoritarian leadership use their wealth and social and political influence to constantly harangue their "followers" against the opponents of the one percent to drown out any rational arguments that might sway their followers among the 99 percent to rebel. This is why they took control of the mass media.
This also explains the phenomenon labeled "voting against their own self interest".