“In this new world, it may be that big, ideological changes are not caused by bread shortages but by new kinds of disruptions” - Anne Applebaum
In her book, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of AUTHORITARIANISM, Anne Applebaum discusses events that led post-Soviet Hungary from a newly formed democratic-republic to its current, Russian-style autocratic state. She goes on to make parallels there to what we are currently experiencing in the U.S.
In an early chapter she reflects on a form of nostalgia that enables this anti-democratic transformation. There’s the reflective nostalgics who miss and dream of the past but are content to leave it there, knowing that all was not as idyllic as some fantasize.
It’s the restorative nostalgics however that pose the greater threat. “They do not merely want to contemplate or learn from the past” Applebaum tells us. “They want … to ‘rebuild the lost home and patch up the memory gaps’. Many of them don’t recognize their own fiction about the past for what they are.”
They’re in denial about the past’s dark moments, with its flawed leaders and lethal consequences of military victories. “They want the cartoon version … and live it as they think their ancestors did, without irony. Eventually, those who seek power on the back of restorative nostalgia will begin to create conspiracies theories, or alternative histories, or alternative fibs, whether or not they have any basis in fact.”
Restorative nostalgia is indicative among those Lost Cause believers of the old South. We’re seeing a more contemporary version of this with the MAGA crowd who’ve been led by Trump and his acolytes to believe his defeat was the result of massive voter fraud.
The former President’s use of lies and unfounded conspiracies is alluring to people who feel the changes that have resulted with our more inclusive policies for people of color, women and the LGBTQ community have taken away the past they were more comfortable with. One that was predominantly white, Christian, overtly heterosexual and conservative.
On this perspective, Applebaum refers to research by Karen Stenner who suggests that "authoritarianism predisposition ... is not exactly the same as closed-mindedness. It is better described as simple-mindedness: people are often attracted to authoritarian ideas because they are bothered by complexity. They dislike divisiveness. They prefer unity. A sudden onslaught of diversity - diversity of opinions, diversity of experiences - therefore makes them angry."
As a response to today's socio-political complexities MAGA-ites have not only followed Trump's voter fraud delusion down the rabbit hole with the fraudit in Arizona and more repressive voter restrictions coming out of GOP-controlled state legislatures, many are followers of the QAnon conspiracies which perpetrate myths that should qualify them to psychiatric wards. Anti-vaccers among them have been dismissive of the coronavirus vaccine due in large part to Trump’s flippant attitude towards it and the virus as well, putting millions at risk now with the rapid spread of the Delta variant.
Needles to say all of this is having a destabilizing effect on our society, with trust evaporating on so many fronts and making prospects for the future of our republic difficult to sustain itself. Could this be the end game for Trump and his coterie of enablers? A scheme to disrupt the current order so vast that a remaking of it to fit something that Vladimir Putin would be proud of may lay at its foundation?
Longing to capture an imaginary past that ignores its many unpleasantries along side its more admirable achievements means we have to be honest enough to dissect the delusions foisted by charismatic people whose grab for power is their only focus. A false rendering of our past by those willing to bend our social norms for personal gain can create the potential for constitutional and political chaos, which can only end badly for all parties, unless you’re a fan of authoritarianism.
