Grim: The Threat of Authoritarianism
I’m publishing this series of articles to share and discuss my ruminations on coping with a troubled and messy world. You can “follow” me to never miss an article.
On this election day of November 8, 2022, I write with great angst.
With alarming insight, William Falk, Editor-in-Chief of The Week, captures the grim state of the country. I quote:
“The rabbit hole of disinformation doesn’t lead everyone to political violence. But there is simply no way to know which of the millions now marinating in lies and hate will confine their provoked rage to obnoxious ranting, and which will be tipped over the edge. And so it is that in our Land of the Free, schools and synagogues now post armed guards at their doors. School, town, and election board meetings are dominated by screaming citizens threatening to ‘destroy’ public officials…This is madness, but not just of lone individuals. It is a mass derangement, rooted in the willful destruction of any standard for decency and truth, and it is likely to get much worse before it gets better.”[i]
And, writing in The New York Times, with his usual perceptive insight, Paul Krugman writes:
“…even if we get a reprieve this week [from the 2022 midterms], the fact remains that democracy is in deep danger from the authoritarian right. America as we know it not yet lost, but it’s on the edge.”[ii]
And, in another article in The Week,
“As a longtime conservative, said Nick Catoggio in The Dispatch, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that ‘populist authoritarianism poses a special threat to America. Trump has promoted a ‘culture of intimidation’ in his MAGA fan base and is now warning it will respond with riots if he’s prosecuted. ‘There’s no comparable figure in the Democratic Party.’…’The G.O.P.’s culture won’t change until right-wingers confront it instead of making excuses for it.’”[iii]
The point is that across the political spectrum, multiple voices are warning of the dire, if not immediate, Threat of Authoritarianism. It’s not just the figment of lone isolated individuals. This in itself makes it all the more dire.
[i] William Falk, “Editor’s Letter,” The Week, November 11, 2022. P. 3.
[ii] Paul Krugman, “A MAGA America Would Be Ugly,” The New York Times, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. P. A23.
[iii] Talking Points, “Pelosi Attack: Where conspiracy theories lead,” The Week, November 11, 2022, P. 17.
Ian I. Mitroff is credited as being one of the principal founders of the modern field of Crisis Management. He has a BS, MS, and a PhD in Engineering and the Philosophy of Social Systems Science from UC Berkeley. He Is Professor Emeritus from the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School of Communication at USC. Currently, he is a Senior Research Affiliate in the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, UC Berkeley. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Management. He has published 41 books. His latest is: The Socially Responsible Organization: Lessons from Covid, Springer, New York, 2022.
