My Experience of Authoritarianism as a Gay Man in Semi-rural Texas
And Other Thoughts
Not all authoritarians govern with tanks, and guns, and bombs, and threats. In fact, authoritarians don’t govern, they dictate, imposing their will over the will of the people. Governing requires legitimacy. Legitimacy requires the consent of the governed, the willingness of free people to choose to participate in a system that limits some of their freedoms in exchange for the free expression of others. What results is a social order where people can live in relative harmony and peace.
It’s a nice sentiment, but theories are full of nice sentiments, often containing wishful thinking when improperly applied. In the West, we live in democracies, vote for a selection of candidates, get information created by a free press, and anyone who pays attention over here knows that is pretty much bullshit. Our democracies have the trappings of freedom, but the chains and iron fist are quick to surface if we express our disagreement anywhere but the ballot box. We vote for the sanctioned candidates, the ones who are not so scary that they can’t get funding, but that is regional, there are a host of frightening members of congress, their constituents blindly following, who would tear down this noble experiment in democracy. The putative free press is free; free to make as much profit as…
