Authoritarians A talk by Trevor Watkins 2014 Libertarian Spring Seminar Jeffreys Bay

A new dichotomy Forget liberals and conservatives, republicans and democrats, christians and atheists Now its Libertarians and Authoritarians

“The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.” Robert Heinlein, libertarian science fiction author

Ordinary authoritarian follower The Continuum Value freedom more than control Value control more than freedom Mildly Authoritarian follower Ordinary authoritarian follower Strongly Authoritarian follower Libertarian Authoritarian leader

The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer Associate Professor Department of Psychology University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada Copyright ©, 2006 by Bob Altemeyer Can be downloaded from http://libsa.wordpress.com/downloads/

What is an authoritarian? Authoritarianism is an aspect of personality, not an error in thinking 2 distinct flavours Followers Fearful, self-righteous, aggressive Leaders Intimidating, ruthless, and vengeful

Authoritarian Followers Attributes highly conventional, law-abiding, religious readily submit to the established authorities attack others in their name tolerate many illegal and unjust government actions Favour more rather than fewer laws, even to persecute themselves

Authoritarian Followers More Attributes sloppy reasoning, highly compartmentalized beliefs, hypocrisy, self-blindness, a profound ethnocentrism, and a ferocious dogmatism

Authoritarian Leaders Attributes strong racial prejudices crave power for its own sake want to control others favour conservative economic policies right wing political parties Scorn loyalty altruism

Authoritarian Leaders More attributes Intelligent, with strong reasoning abilities broad thinking, sound logic don't trust sycophants are not dogmatic or zealous Enjoy intimidation and cruelty Dishonest

So what? Makes freedom vs control the key classification Correctly characterises the opposition Not liberals, or conservatives, or religious, or greens Its anyone with a desire to control you Problem is psychological, not intellectual Education, persuasion, negotiation likely to fail Escape, isolation and exile may be best options for libertarians

Some strategies Reduce fear. Reduce certainty and self-righteousness Reduce religiosity, replace faith with reason Undermine authorities Encourage diversity Encourage tolerance Become a libertarian