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Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Brad Witt, President Trump, Henry Heimuller, VP Pence, Pat Robertson, Debi Corsiglia’s dog, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone.
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Authoritarianism & America
Americans are protected under the Constitution to have free speech. Americans can say just about anything to or about anyone. We certainly have seen this the last four years. The outspokenness and the cruelness, the hate has been a constant interaction of all our daily lives. Yet, the kindness, love, and good heartedness of the majority of Americans have over ruled the hateful actions and remarks of the minority. For this I am grateful.
Americans often forget how lucky they are to live in such a “FREE” country, because its not the same for many people in other countries.
A 13 year old boy has been convicted of blasphemy in northern Nigeria and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Omar Farouq was convicted in a Sharia court in Kano State in northwest Nigeria after he was accused of using foul language toward Allah in an argument with a friend. He was sentenced on August 10 by the same court that recently sentenced a studio assistant Yahaya Sharif-Aminu to death for blaspheming Prophet Mohammed.
The so-called court explained the boy was tried as an adult because he has attained puberty and has full responsibility under Islamic law. Even though blasphemy is not even mentioned in the law. The people there are so crazy that the boy’s mother had to relocate to another town because a crazy religious mob descended on her home.
Nigeria has no child protection laws and often condemns younger children to hard labor camps because of slights to the religion.
Back to the USA. While the majority of Americans are not religious zealots and can practice religion or not practice religion there are many who cannot. America has its share of crazy zealots. We have religious leaders comparing Trump as a miracle from god, wishing other people dead. And calling for the beheading of Dr’s and government leaders.
It doesn’t matter if its America, or Nigeria both countries seemed to have had their share of mentally ill people running the government. The only difference is that in America when we make mistakes we only have to suffer 4 years and then we can vote them out, we can change laws, make laws redact laws. And we don’t put 13 year olds in jail for saying something negative against a religion or leader.
What makes so-called normal caring religious people act so damn nuts? Well there are some defined common traits that go with religious zealots or plain garden variety of nuts, aka Trump supporters. And these people will continue to support any leader that exhibits these traits. I have listed 4 traits.
1. Authoritarianism refers to the advocacy or enforcement of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, and is commonly associated with a lack of concern for the opinions or needs of others. Authoritarian personality syndrome—a well-studied and globally-prevalent condition—is a state of mind that is characterized by belief in total and complete obedience to one’s authority. Those with the syndrome often display aggression toward outgroup members, submissiveness to authority, resistance to new experiences, and a rigid hierarchical view of society. The syndrome is often triggered by fear, making it easy for leaders who exaggerate threat or fear monger to gain their allegiance
Although authoritarian personality is found among liberals, it is more common among the right wing around the world. President Trump’s speeches, which include absolutist terms like “losers” and “complete disasters,” are naturally appealing to those who prefer authoritarianism.
2. Social dominance orientation (SDO)—which is distinct but related to authoritarian personality syndrome—refers to people who have a preference for the societal hierarchy of groups, specifically with a structure in which the high-status groups have dominance over the low-status ones. Those with SDO are typically dominant, tough-minded, and driven by self-interest. In Trump’s speeches, he appeals to those with SDO by repeatedly making a clear distinction between groups that have a generally higher status in society (White), and those groups that are typically thought of as belonging to a lower status (immigrants and minorities.
Not all trump supporters are racists but, It is a well-known fact that the Republican party, going at least as far back to Richard Nixon’s “southern strategy,” used strategies that appealed to bigotry, such as by delivering speeches with “dog whistles”—code words that signaled prejudice toward minorities that were designed to be heard by racists but no one else.
While the dog whistles of the past were more subtle, Trumps are sometimes shockingly direct. There’s no denying that he routinely appeals to bigoted supporters when he calls Muslims “dangerous” and Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “murderers,” often in a blanketed fashion. Trump is correlated with a standard scale of modern racism.
3. Relative deprivation refers to the experience of being deprived of something to which one believes they are entitled. It is the discontent felt when one compares their position in life to others who they feel are equal or inferior but have unfairly had more success than them.
4. Some Trump supporters are simply angry that American jobs are being lost to Mexico and China, which is certainly understandable, although these loyalists often ignore the fact that some of these careers may be lost due to the accelerating pace of automation.
These Trump supporters are experiencing relative deprivation, and are common among the swing states like Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. This kind of deprivation is specifically referred to as “relative,” as opposed to “absolute,” because the feeling is often based on a skewed perception of what one is entitled to.
Tammy
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