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

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

3. “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

4. 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

5. The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Canada
Copyright ©, 2006 by Bob Altemeyer
Can be downloaded from

6. 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

7. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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