Trump as President is the biggest example of this, but he is not the only one. People like him have won several governorships over recent years. Like Pence, Lepage, Christie, and Brownback. Why is this style becoming so popular, and why are people so willing to forgive so many horrible things these men have done?
Why is it an attractive leadership style? It “gets things done”. It provides a structure of right vs. wrong coming from authority rather than from some subjective internal process(*). It doesn’t get bogged down in nuance. “At least you know just where you stand with him.” :rolleyes:
You may be surprised but a large part of the population sees those as virtues of strength, rather than as signs that we have a bully in the room.
The “horrible things” these men do and say, to their followers, are either not horrible at all or are things that we should get over because the things they “get done” are worth much more. Yeah, they’ll say, Trump grabs women by the hoohah - and Washington kept slaves and slaughtered Indians.
(*this makes RW authoritarians attractive to religious fundamentalists, as you may imagine)
“The trains run on time,” as the old saying goes.
It’s the PROMISE of that, anyway. It doesn’t actually happen, but it’s very appealing.
Life is very chaotic, and it’s hard to understand. Economics is very hard to understand, and the truth of it is often counterintuitive. The economy is an unpredictable thing at the best of times. We’re born, and live our lives, adrift in a sea of unceartainty. A mperson who offers that is aiming directly at your most primitive desire - the desire for security and safety.