Meanwhile, 44 percent backed the American tradition of competing branches of government as a model, if sometimes “frustrating,” system.

Why would people want to live under an authoritarian’s thumb? It’s rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security—real or perceived—and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group—especially if it is the “right” group whose interests will be protected. Recall the Trump supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”

  • @Happywop
    link
    212 months ago

    The dissonance is astounding. The average mouth breathing MAGA is either so poor and stupid that they don’t realize that their taxes are going to go way up and their services like Pension and medical will evaporate. The other type of MAGA supporter is probably a fairly well off enough to insulate them from the worst of this (except the tax shift to them) but are happy because they get to openly hate the people they see as a problem which will lead to blow back that they can’t understand. Bad times ahead if trump wins guaranteed