In the late ‘40s, after the horrors of WWII, the great psychologist, Erich Fromm, wrote his seminal work “Escape from Freedom”. He was trying to understand what the hell happened that created the German Nazis and thus the slaughters of the war, and what the hell happened that created the Russian Soviets who were at that time creating the Cold War. His answers help explain some of today’s threats.
As I recall, his main conclusion was that authoritarian societies, and authoritarian upbringing of children, created countries easily embracing authoritarian leaders like Hitler and Stalin. People were raised to be obedient, unimaginative, manipulated and bullied by dominant male hierarchical leaders. And so, in both Germany and Russia (and Italy and Japan too I suppose) tyrants rise to the top and created slavish, fanatical followers who placed all of their faith in the fierce, punishing, tyrannical father figures. And, indeed, they gladly gave up their own individual identities to become identified with that domineering image and take it on as their own.
This is scary stuff because it seems that Russia today has been taken over by their current punishing hyper-masculine leader who is on the brink of escalating his already horrific slaughters to unimaginable depths of depravity. I am hoping, and counting on the people of Russia to be independent and free enough to resist Putin’s headlong charge into oblivion to stop his madness.
Where else is authoritarian society embracing authoritarian leadership? Sadly, the American MAGA Cult, dressed in camouflage outfits, carrying AR15s, waving Confederate and American flags, and threatening to overthrow elections, are playing out that terrible drama here at home.
But I think the authoritarian attempts cannot capture this country which is so deeply steeped in personal freedom of thought and expression. I fully expect American liberal democracy will withstand the assaults coming from the authoritarian tribes within.
