We Need To Talk About 'Authoritarianism'

Howdy, friends! This week we're talking about perhaps the most widely misused term in all of politics - authoritarianism. Why is it so misunderstood? Let's take a look.

The Truth About "Authoritarianism" – Second Thought

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Citations And Further Reading:

On Authority:

CIA Report on Stalin:

FISA 702:

2022 Surveillance Report:

Section 702 Violations:

Police Violence:

People killed by Chinese police:

2022 US police killings:

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Second Thought is a channel devoted to education and analysis of current events from a Leftist perspective. Welcome!

[SecondThought]

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[DtWolfwood]

All anyone has to do to understand this is watch the movie Red Dawn. Suddenly when the US is invaded, Americans are considered patriotic when they fight a guerilla war on the big bad Soviets. Yet some how we don't see this when the citizens of other countries do the same when they are invaded. They are considered "terrorist" for fighting back.

[purplehaze]

I love how, with how many crimes that can make it legal for you to be enslaved being a direct consequence of poverty, it's a round-about way of saying "It's either you work for enough pay, or you work for nothing".

[Kalossabrakstein]

"I don't care I'm being surveilled, I've got nothing to hide!" is as stupid as saying "I don't care if my freedom of speech is taken away, I've got nothing to say!"

[The_True_Mx_Pink]

8:03 minor correction here, the US is not the only country that has used nuclear weapons in war. France "tested" a nuclear bomb on Algerian land in 1960, 2 years before their peace treaty, rendering the impacted land unusable to this day

[-umph]

I want to additionally point out that the president of the United States is able to legally pardon all of his cronies, who were found guilty by a jury of citizens, the week before stepping down, and we think we aren't auth.

[georgekostaras]

The thing about authoritarianism is that people keep forgetting that the patriot act was never repealed and was strengthened

[purplehaze]

"Authoritarianism is a red flag for a lot of people."
I see what you did there.

[Traeknald]

I think taking Wikipedia at face value for the number of police killings in china is very disingenuous, especially considering the events in Hong kong

[emiebex]

One problem with Authoritarianism is lately people (Specifically The Far-Right) are disguising it as "Christian Nationalism" & some people can't tell the difference.

[juliegolick]

Slate ran a series a few years ago called "If It Happened There, " which was all about how US news would be reported if the same thing were happening in a foreign nation. It's a really great way to look at how word choice and framing affects the perception of events.

[thekwjiboo]

I can't tell you how many times I've asked someone "does it seem to be reasonable to call a nation with 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prison population the freest nation on the planet?". Oh, the mental gymnastics I've seen...

[chilli]

I don't think that Wikipedia page for police killings in china is the best source, it says right at the top that it's incomplete.

[Ganjor]

Funny thing: I was reading the article from Engels and after a few sentences I was like "wait a minute, why don't I read the original in German"? (I'm German). So I looked up the original and it turns out, the language he used is sooo out of date, it is actually easier for me to read the english version. So I switched back.

[josefk]

I remember in 2003, someone responded to me talking about the PATRIOT act by saying "If it was as bad as you say, you would be in jail now."

[jackdiddles]

who the hell wouldn't mention Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Hirohito before talking about *Cuba* as authoritarian? there's a clear reason why he doesn't mention the axis powers at all when he presents the list of regime's considered authoritarian because he wants to paint a picture about authoritarianism being a necessary and acceptable part of socialism, even though he won't say it explicitly. this is not socialist advocacy

[TheDragonSlaayer]

I feel like this was a missed opportunity to point out how most people are against "authoritarianism, " but fail to see how inherently authoritarian Capitalism is. Either way, great video.

[rootch_]

Honestly I'm just confused after watching this. Basically you say since everyone does authoritarian stuff we too will have to and there is no other way. You give examples for different "authoritarian things" that all kinds of countries around the world do and because everyone does it we just have to live with it. For a channel that usually preaches democratic control of society this just feels so strange to me.
I would say authoritarian is something undemocratic, strict hierarchies that the elites in power use to oppress/control the people and create/keep their monopoly on power. I agree that in that sense western "democracies" are also quite authoritarian, but as are one party states/dictatorships. After all, they all follow capitalism wich, in my eyes, is THE big authoritarian system in our world. But we (or at least I) do not want to just continue like that, our goal is to create something better for the future. A society where the people are in control.
Of course such a society will probably still need something like prisons and ways to defend itself, but does it have to be authoritarian. There are democratic ways to organize or we should at least try to find them, just like this channel usually tells us.
Also I'm not trying to say to simply go vote because i doubt that a revolution will be peaceful, but again, even in a revolution there should be ways to organize democratically. Otherwise (and now to probably my most controversial take) we will just end up with a new entrenched elite at the top (I dont care what they call themselves or if they pinky promise they'll do a communism) and then why even go through the troubles of a revolution.
But I'm no specialist in leftist ideologies, I'm still rather new and just learning and trying to find something for me, idk maybe I'm completely wrong.

[badger]

As an anarchist, I see both as authoritarians. We need to deal with the source problems leading to crime AND learn how to deal with problem behaviors in our own groups. Vertical authority IS exploitation.

[breakingboardrooms]

I, an anarchist, have already abolished bedtime! it is 4.56 am, and I am still wide awake!