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from the what-y'all-love-social-sciences dept.
It's 2017. Why are there still Nazis?
It's a question many observers are asking after hundreds of white supremacists, many displaying swastikas and Confederate battle flags and shouting racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-communist slogans, took to the streets of Charlottesville, Va., this weekend, provoking violence that claimed the life of one counter-protester and resulted in multiple injuries.
The continued existence of people who hold openly white supremacist ideologies more than seven decades after the fall of the Third Reich can be explained, in part, through a social theory developed in the early 1990s. Social dominance theory seeks to explain how hierarchy-enhancing ideologies do not just drive social inequality, but are also a result of it. It suggests that a single personality trait, called social dominance orientation (SDO), strongly predicts a person's political and social views, from foreign policy and criminal justice to civil rights and the environment. What's more, it offers insight into how ideologies such as racism, sexism, and xenophobia tend to arise from the unequal distribution of a society's resources.
"Social dominance theory provides a yardstick for measuring social and political ideologies," says Felicia Pratto, who developed the theory with fellow psychologist Jim Sidanius. "SDO is one way – not the only one – to try to figure out what those ideologies are 'about.'"
You too can take the Social Dominance Orientation quiz to determine your nazi quotient.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 17 2017, @03:53AM (1 child)
That part is true WRT "sudden".
...and we should first note that the shift is toward Authoritarianism (the top edge of the political palate). [politicalcompass.org]
The fact that Authoritarians also -happen- to be Capitalists (the Right edge of the political palate) is interesting--but is incidental.
The root comment by gallondr00nk doesn't mention that when a subset of humans get scared, they tend to look for one person (Fuhrer) to save them.
...and in the process, are willing to surrender their civil liberties.
Authoritarians/Capitalists feed on this by making conditions WORSE so that the sheep will (incredibly) flock to those who are causing/exacerbating the badness while those doing the manipulating claim that they will fix everything.
There is a sudden surge of the media defining typical left/liberal/moderate viewpoints as "right wing"
First, the media in your claim is a red herring.
Next, you must be a youngster.
It's nothing "sudden" going on.
Since they got trounced in the 1972 presidential election, Dumbocrats have been becoming more and more Neoliberal (Authoritarian and Capitalist, increasingly liking a police state and becoming ever more anti-worker)
The Dumbocrats don't currently stand for what Democrats stood for in 1964.
It's why they took a pounding in November 2016 and look to take another pounding in 2018 and again in 2020.
.
...and "Liberals" -are- to the Right of Center.
They are contented with Capitalism and think that simply redistributing the wealth of Capitalists will solve everything.
...ignoring the fact that wealth translates to political clout and that Capitalism typically results in Oligarchy.
...and "Moderates" in the USA are halfway between the top-Right corner (Fascism) and the point on the ENTIRE political palate where the axes cross.
Don't make the mistake of thinking they are anywhere near the axes that divide Capitalist Authoritarians from Anti-Capitalist Civil Libertarians.
...and "Leftists" are Anti-Capitalists.
In the USA, most were purged/jailed/deported in the Palmer Raids after WWI or during McCarthyism after WWII.
The remainder were forced underground.
It's extremely rare these days when someone claims to be Anti-Capitalist.
Better words to use to describe the broad camps are "Reactionary" (wanting to go back to an all-White all-male past) and "Progressive" (wanting more equality of wealth and political influence).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Funny) by BK on Sunday September 17 2017, @04:42PM
If it was really an all male past, how are we here? I know it's nit-picky, but I learned in school that some non-males were necessary... was i absent on the day they explained how to do it your way?
...but you HAVE heard of me.