Poor Education: The Root of American Authoritarianism?
Prioritize the prevention of ignorance if we want to avoid another Trump-style nightmare
How on Earth Did We Get Here?
Almost daily we witness a new hateful outburst from the conservative base. Whether they’re aggressively opposing racial equality, the scientific process, or voting rights, the Right is always up in arms, protesting initiatives that would improve lives. It has become so predictable now that I think many of us are learning to live with it. The US is splitting at its ideological seams and, at this point, we’d honestly be happy to see the red states secede. Let them keep making utter buffoons of themselves and perhaps soon enough they’ll be phased out of reality entirely. Then we can share a collective sigh of relief.
But every now and then they manage to outdo themselves, saying or doing something so outrageous you can’t help but wonder “how is it humanly possible to be that deranged?”
I often find myself thinking this very thought — perhaps too often, in fact. I just can’t help but give my attention to these barbarians, especially when they proudly threaten the health and safety of others.
How did so many people end up like this in the first place? How can they possibly choose to believe unfounded conspiracy theories over mountains of scientific evidence and scholarly research? How is their perception of reality so horribly warped?
Trump certainly acted as a catalyst in this regard, but he’s not solely responsible. As Andrew Yang accurately stated while campaigning for the presidency, Trump is merely a symptom of a deeper problem. He’s the manifestation of the ugliness that dwells in the hearts and minds of so many Americans.
So what is the deeper problem, exactly? What causes people to put their trust in authoritarian strongmen and refute nature, science, and the foundational principles of the country they claim to love?
Code Switcher hit the nail on the head in a recent article attributing the MAGA sensation to low cognitive ability. And I share the belief that poor education primes people to be more susceptible to authoritarianism. The authoritarian mindset — and the inclination to embrace it — are developed over time, influenced by a certain variety of external factors. But I believe the seeds of authoritarianism are sown as early as childhood, when we first learn to make sense of the world (or not).
Before I dive into the reasoning behind my stance on this theory, I’m sure a lot of conservatives are itching to suggest that mask and vaccine mandates are authoritarian moves. However, this simply is not true. By definition, authoritarianism means enforced obedience to a governing body at the expense of personal freedom. Masks and vaccines, however, do not in any way, shape or form, restrict personal freedom. And if you think following basic medical precautions to protect yourself and others from a deadly virus counts as enforced obedience, you should probably take a moment to evaluate your sense of morality. I’ll outline some reasons why shortly. Moving on.
The “How” Is Just as Important as the “Why”
Gaining a proper education trains people to be resourceful and innovative so that they can create more opportunity for themselves and do more with the opportunity they find. Those who embrace education and understand its importance are comfortable with freedom and intrigued by it. I’m talking about the freedom to learn, to wonder, to explore, to experiment, to engage in self-development practices. You know, the things that make us human.
But how does education make people more resourceful and innovative? After all, isn’t the US education system abysmal?
I would cite my own experience, all the way through college graduation, to argue that the material taught in school is mostly useless. But thankfully I realized, after much reflection, that how you learn is just as important as what you learn.
Students who invest themselves in education learn to look beyond useless facts so that they may understand the greater context within which they fit. They learn how everything is connected and begin to identify underlying patterns that are applicable to all areas of life. These patterns make it easier for ambitious individuals to strategize and advance, as they resemble patterns these individuals would have studied elsewhere. Pattern identification is a method of visualizing innovative paths forward and ultimately acting on them, granted students get to enjoy the intellectual freedom progressive policies would offer, like affordable college and expanded access to trade schools.
On the Flip Side…
Those who do not develop or receive a strong education (or who are willfully ignorant) are largely incapable of creating opportunity for themselves, so they prefer to be told how to operate. The political strongman becomes the sole voice of authority and dictates how the citizenry ought to live, to the pleasure of the uneducated. The American authoritarian leader carefully weaves terms like “freedom” and “individual rights” into their regressive rhetoric, weaponizing them, creating the illusion that these values are achievable only by following their word.
The uneducated then develop an infatuation with these terms, resonating with them as though they are the commandments of their creed, the guiding tenets of the dogma which has given their lives meaning. However, in reality, they are buying into a false sense of security at the expense of real freedom.
This chain of events is exacerbated when the hateful uneducated come together to form echo chambers, whether in a family setting or the putrid depths of social media.
Clashing of Realities
Then, when the educated attempt to introduce progressive policies which would grant greater freedom to more people, the uneducated lash out (especially if marginalized populations are the ones receiving greater freedom), viewing these policies as threats to their security and way of life. They can’t stand the thought that others would defy established norms and receive freedom “for nothing.” To make matters worse, they perceive these new policies as immoral because they clash with the moral code they’ve learned from other uneducated authoritarians throughout life.
These morals embraced by uneducated supporters of authoritarianism are, however, essentially just scripts used to justify their irrational thinking— morals which are initially popularized and amplified by those who seek to capitalize on gullibility. Just look at how Trump duped his own followers into throwing cash at him by claiming that their campaign donations would “Keep America Great,” when in reality, he just pocketed it all for himself.
Moreover, I challenge conservatives to explain what Trump even meant by “Keep America Great.” When I make the mistake of reading through politically charged comment sections on social media, I often ask conservatives whether Trump made their lives tangibly better in any way, or if they think things are “great” purely because he made other people’s lives worse. Their answer? Well, I’ll let you know if they ever give me one. So far, nothing but crickets. I can only hope my question encouraged them to really reflect on why they believe the things they do. But I doubt it.
By the Book
This behavior is not exclusive to Trump though. This is just part of the authoritarian playbook. Con artists and demagogues always target the uneducated because they are defenseless against the euphoria of tribalism, the thrill of nationalist mob mentality, and the reassurance that their plight is valid. However, authoritarians virtually never even care about the plight of their supporters, nor do they take any action to ease their pain.
The continued, strategic assertion of these values normalizes them such that the uneducated perceive them as the de facto way of living rather than a political tactic, despite centuries of evidence proving the repeated use of such tactics. The “promise everything, deliver nothing” and deflective smear campaign methods date as far back as ancient Rome, as outlined in Quintus Tullius Cicero’s How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians.
This dangerously effective blending of buzzwords, traditional values and nationalist desperation strengthens the uneducated population’s disposition for authoritarianism. Convinced that progressive policies threaten their way of life, they feel justified in their “othering” of the educated and easily conclude that violence is needed to maintain order. So, with the blessing the authoritarian strongman, disenfranchised supporters stage violent events like the January 6th Insurrection.
In the minds of those who are incapable of analyzing an issue’s complexity and intersectionality, violence is the simplest and fastest solution. Of course, there was no real problem to be solved by the insurrectionists on 1/6. They just fell for the illusion of a problem devised by the GOP.
But we still see the Right routinely attacking academia, which is perceived as the root of the threat to their security. Universities are “indoctrination factories” after all. This in turn compounds into a stronger sense of nationalism thanks to the aforementioned anger-stoking political tactics, which is further inflated by mob mentality. The cycle continues.
Prevention, Please!
None of this is not to say that all uneducated people are bad or that they’re doomed to support authoritarianism. Nor is it to say that everyone can get a quality education if they simply choose to. Unfortunately, many are deprived of the opportunity to receive a quality education thanks to the US government’s lack of investment in, and failure to prioritize the quality of, the education sector. Sadly, plenty of kind-hearted people with good intentions fall into this trap because they never get the opportunity to develop the intellectual skills necessary to navigate an interconnected world. Plenty of ambitious students and hopeful parents learn to hate academia when the education system lets them down.
So while this story may seem like a pointed caricature of the conservative base, I hope it outlines the long-term domino effects that lead to at least what seems like a substantial portion of the ideological divide we are seeing in the US today. We need to bolster our education system and prevent ignorance from emerging in the first place. We need to reimagine education such that students enjoy learning instead of hating it. We need to make learning more comprehensive so students are encouraged to identify patterns and synthesize their own ideas with those that they study. We need to move away from memorization and regurgitation. We need to emphasize the importance of context.
The longer we wait, the faster faith in academia diminishes. The longer we wait, the more we give authoritarians the opportunity to take control.
