"Millions of pages have been filled by scholars explaining the psychological appeal of fascism, most converging on the blunt fact that it offers a fantasy of reversion to an infantile state, where nothing can harm you, bc you will be protected by an all-powerful figure who will always put you first"
It may not be about issues, but whether voters surrender to Trump’s invitation to return to the womb.
Such isolationism is dangerous for free society.
This is why Zombie Fourth Estate's unjournalism zombies love the “undecideds” so much: because they are actually completely blank slates, the zombies get to project whatever agenda/beliefs they want onto them, attributing to them whatever narrative they were predisposed to write in the first place.
"But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
An all-powerful figure who CLAIMS he will always put you first is more accurate. We see this with Trump. His followers kiss the damn ground he walks on, but he will not hesitate to throw any of them under the bus if it suits him to do so.
In a climate of fear, people willingly trade liberty for security. It is a human characteristic as old as humanity. Therefore, democrats must do all they can to cut off unreasonable fear mongering in public discourse. It's democratic malpractice to include a right to lie in "freedom of expression."
Essential reading - goes a LONG way toward explaining Trump's enduring appeal among otherwise functional, even conventionally successful adults. His pro-wrestling worldview is a perfect fit for people who can't muster the effort to make sense of the world for themselves.
Humans are as domesticated as their pet animals, and this is a state of induced infantilism. Fascism merely hijacks the worst of what is already present.
We like hearing that it's all going to be fine, that someone else is taking care of things and we shouldn't worry. How do we get folks to recognize that lots of people in a powerful system of government (ours is a bit broken right now) is way better than letting power-hungry madmen take over?
I imagine that the lefties who refuse to support Harris are instead seduced by some mythical leftwing fantasy in which a leader makes all the bad things go away.
And the promise of violent revenge against perceived enemies. They really dig that.