I've never understood the whole appeal for authoritarian leaders (read cult leaders.) In the last few days, I've come to a conclusion that is hard to stomach, but which, on thinking about it, is perfectly sound.
The average followers of a dictator are motivated by one basic principle … that they are not responsible for their own lives and/or actions and their leader determines these.
So where does this basic concept come from?
If you take a look at many of the organizations (both political and religious), they are headed by a single figure … pope, pastor, president, cult leader, etc. That figure determines the dogma for the organization and the requirement for membership. That figure can also encompass non-human form, such as God, Mohammed, Rama, Buddha or any other astral deity that you care to name.
Given that we, as children, are many times brought up in one of these authoritarian structures, both religious and social, we've been conditioned to do that kind of thinking. Kids in the Scouting programs look up to and obey the Scoutmasters; in Sunday School, they are taught that the leader/pastor/teacher is the font of knowledge for their sect and that their deity is ultimately the absolute authority for them.
This idea of shifting responsibility for one's own actions and decisions to an authority figure is deeply rooted in our society … indeed, for probably all societies worldwide. This includes ideology inculcated at an early age, which is almost impossible to alter or eradicate.
I once had a conversation with an honest Catholic priest about his religion and parochial schools. His statement has stayed with me for over fifty years … "Give me a child until they are six years old, and I'll give you a Catholic for life." The same procedure will work for any religion or ideology.
People are taught to accept the authority in wh**ever organization, and not question that authority. It's a fact of life for any society and is almost impossible to contain. Josef Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, once said (paraphrased) … "Tell a lie often enough, and the public will eventually believe it."
Is there a remedy for these adverse ideologies gaining power or controlling a society? Yes there is … but it has been almost eradicated in our educational systems for the last fifty years. It's called "critical thinking."
It has been suppressed for one overriding reason … no authority wants to be questioned in it's dogma. I understand that. But that suppression leads to false narratives that are espoused by proponents of their way of thinking, without regard to t***h or reason. It creates a society of sheep that follows the leader … or the lemmings that go on instinct over the cliff to their deaths.
Critical thinking means at its core that everything is to be questioned as to its veracity until it can be proven with evidence or factual conclusions.
The current flap over CRT (Critical Race Theory) is a classic example of this lack of reasonable investigation. It seeks to paper over the factual history of s***ery in the United States, and its unsettling consequences that exist to the present day. The facts are plain and simple … s***ery existed way before the founding of the nation and was a part of colonial life. It wasn't called s***ery as such most of the time. Such terms as "indentured servant" and others were common in colonial America … and were accepted as part of the social structure. To deny this, and other ways of subjecting people to involuntary servitude have existed throughout American history and cannot be denied.
Those that choose to deny this documented history want to paint a rosy picture for white settlers and citizens to avoid the perceived responsibility for creating the system that promotes white people and attempts to suppress minority citizens … be they black, brown, yellow or anything but white Anglo-Saxon Protestant stock. Note the exclusion of Catholics from the political system until John Kennedy was elected president.
Even some of those same white immigrants suffered the same fate. Cue the Irish that were escaping the Great Potato Famine in the nineteenth century who were sentenced to menial jobs for years before the Polish immigrants arrived to take their place. The Chinese immigrants of the 1850's, once they finished building much of the t***scontinental railroad, were ghettoized and relegated to menial jobs. Such is the environment of s******c r****m.
Of course, the total non-taught history of what the white settlers did to the Native American population is one of the greater tragedies that we have participated in. In most cases, it was out and out genocide. Included in this s******c r****m is the Spanish treatment of California Indians by the priests of Junipero Serra's Catholic invasion with Cortez and C****ado. The list goes on … and we are not taught the history accurately and without bias. As Joe Friday of D**gnet fame kept saying … "Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts."
Unfortunately, history is largely written by the victors of any war or movement, so many of the facts as to what actually happened are lost in the fog of history, but those that remain must not be ignored or altered.
Is it too late to counter this suppression of critical thinking in our society? Critical thinking has always been rejected by religionists and those that would attempt to gain and keep political power. It may be too late to reinstitute this idea of examining everything and being critical of established institutions. Colleges and universities have long been the targets of these political institutions as being radical and opposing established norms. CRT is just the latest evolution of this movement against examining things as they are, and not obscured by rhetoric and dogma.
It is not possible to resurrect this critical thinking in anyone over the age of twenty or so, possibly earlier, but maybe in three or four generations (if we teach critical thinking early enough), we may begin to get a society based on rational thought. I hope that critical thinking can be resurrected and made a part of educational curriculum, but it may be too late … in which case we would have to start over with a society built from the ground up.

Holy heck what kind of mobster spider is that??? I mean read your interesting write up ~~ 100’s more to come no less???
You’re bold...

A great helper to keeping those pesty, too big for their britches types in line~~(literally)

You’re ready for Halloween for sure!!! Put a spot light on it and watch the attraction altho she will disappear..

Pretty freaky really but a friend if you allow it.. Just like us humans, eh???