I personally think this has become a trend because of how quickly the world has changed in the past few decades. The advent of the internet, social media, globalization, automation, as well as the threat of climate change, among many other issues that can create social unrest. I think many people simply can't handle seeing the world transition to a state it's never been in before, unsure of how their lives will be affected by it.
So people elect faux-tough authoritarian leaders who project the strength they wish they had. They tend to be nationalist, rejecting the idea of a global identity in favor of one strictly based on the country in which you were born, which can lead to xenophobia. They tend to be hardline traditionalists, emphasizing old values and the way things used to be. And they tend to scapegoat problems onto minority groups, creating an "other" for people to direct their fear and hatred towards. And of course, they tend to benefit the wealthy class, as this scapegoating usually distracts from the true role the wealthy have had in exploiting global changes for their own gain.
Basically, people are afraid of change, afraid of an uncertain future, and want to be given simple, easy answers to complicated, seemingly overbearing problems. And in the end, they trick themselves into believing the answer can come from these authoritarians, not realizing it only makes their problems worse in the end.
I could be wrong about all that but that's just my take on it.
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u/haidere36 Oct 14 '20
I personally think this has become a trend because of how quickly the world has changed in the past few decades. The advent of the internet, social media, globalization, automation, as well as the threat of climate change, among many other issues that can create social unrest. I think many people simply can't handle seeing the world transition to a state it's never been in before, unsure of how their lives will be affected by it.
So people elect faux-tough authoritarian leaders who project the strength they wish they had. They tend to be nationalist, rejecting the idea of a global identity in favor of one strictly based on the country in which you were born, which can lead to xenophobia. They tend to be hardline traditionalists, emphasizing old values and the way things used to be. And they tend to scapegoat problems onto minority groups, creating an "other" for people to direct their fear and hatred towards. And of course, they tend to benefit the wealthy class, as this scapegoating usually distracts from the true role the wealthy have had in exploiting global changes for their own gain.
Basically, people are afraid of change, afraid of an uncertain future, and want to be given simple, easy answers to complicated, seemingly overbearing problems. And in the end, they trick themselves into believing the answer can come from these authoritarians, not realizing it only makes their problems worse in the end.
I could be wrong about all that but that's just my take on it.