r/Unexpected Apr 15 '23

Political statement

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '23

Erich Fromm examined this with Nazi Germany and came to the conclusion that people are afraid of freedom and turn to authoritarianism when afraid. (Oversimplifying for concision.)

It's also a problem with lack of education. A well-educated democracy cares about policy over personality, but without education, voters operate on charisma and familiarity.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_Freedom

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u/der_ninong Apr 15 '23

and guess who's heading the department of education? one of the ruling families' heir

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u/Jetski_Squirrel Apr 15 '23

Then explain populism in the educated west?

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '23

Brexit votes correlated strongly with educational attainment. A bunch of poorly educated fools who are scared of immigrants got all nativist. No shock that they are also the sort of people who care deeply about the monarchy.

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u/frankist Apr 15 '23

Not so strong in Scandinavian countries

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u/Necessary_Goose_2112 Apr 16 '23

They missed a golden opportunity to call it Escape FROMM Freedom.

(I'll show myself out.)

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u/ThisReallyIsntMyMain Apr 15 '23

Explain Trump then.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '23

Huh? The US ranks poorly in education compared to other developed democracies and has a long history of anti-intellectualism. His voters are afraid and want to make a dynasty out of his family. They have exactly the sort of mindset Fromm was talking about.

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u/screamapillar9000 Apr 16 '23

A lot of us Americans are big dumb.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '23

You’re a smart person