M. Night Shyamalan’s Oscar-nominated movie “The Sixth Sense” has a memorable line from Haley Joel Osment. The actor states, “I see dead people.”
It is powerful because it makes no sense. The line is delivered by a person who appears
to be under medical scrutiny. Why would
he say such a thing?
We don’t understand the impact until events further
evolve. At that time, the effect becomes
profound.
The same could be said about the idea of
Authoritarianism. It is a term we learn
in school, and never give a second thought.
We never personalize it. We don’t
see the bully at school as an authoritarian.
We don’t see the spoiled child as an authoritarian. We don’t see gang activity as an example of
Authoritarianism.
Is it because Authoritarianism has not been placed under
scrutiny? Maybe Authoritarianism suffers
from a type of academic misrepresentation.
A retired psychology professor at the University of Manitoba
in Canada wrote a paper on Authoritarianism in 2006. The title of Professor Bob Altemeyer’s paper
is “The Authoritarians” and it is
extensively referenced on the Internet.
The paper deals with political conservatives in America,
with the author representing this group as “Right Wing Authoritarians.” He devises an RWA scale to define and
categorize them.
This exercise has the academic imprimatur necessary to give
it a level of credibility, but does it properly represent
Authoritarianism? Is Authoritarianism
simply an affliction of American Conservatives?
Do we see authoritarian characteristics in autocratic rulers? Do we deal with people in our penal system
differently depending on whether the individual has authoritarian behaviors? Do people become more or less authoritarian
as they age?
These questions imply
a multidimensional quality to authoritarians.
If we think of Authoritarianism as nothing more than a type of political
behavior, we are missing the larger picture.
It deserves some investigation.
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