What is the best explanation for "conservative" pathology?

[Cary]

The best political psychology I have found is authoritarian theory.

[elleng]

1. Fear

from George Lakoff, Nov. 27, 2018
Fear. It's the emotion at the heart of Trump and the GOP. Fear of immigrants. Fear of people of color. Fear of equality for women and LGBT people. Fear of religions other than Christianity. Fear of non-existent conspiracies. Fear of the media. Fear of social progress. Ever wonder why?

Republicans understand that fear activates conservative attitudes in the brain. So, they stoke fear.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016278020

[SomedayKindaLove]

13. If you are a leader, better to be feared than loved

At least according to Machiavelli. Consider how much of that initial fear is caused by abuse. Near the end of the election Trump fans would sometimes wait for hours for the chance to be abused by the president.

Conservatives are doomed to forever fight a losing battle because they want nothing to change, in a universe where everything is constantly changing. They fear progress because they fear change.

It’s all about the fear. Hippies, blacks, Iranians, socialists, communists, Mexicans, mushroom clouds, Willie Horton, terrorists. Be very afraid.

[Cary]

18. Yes there are five motivators and fear is one of them

Fear, guilt, greed, exclusivity and need for approval.

[hlthe2b]

2. "Daddy complex"

[applegrove]

3. Reason becomes replaced with emotion when people face prolonged

financial anxiety. Get rid of unions and in 30 years you have a huge chunk of the population who are voting on a feeling and not what is in their best interests.

[albacore]

4. With trump... the word is fear...

But for "conservatives" the word is greed.
The terrible feeling that they have when they discover there is wealth that isn't theirs.

[exboyfil]

5. My impression is that abortion is the single biggest driver

3rd term abortions (and to a lesser degree 2nd term abortions) of healthy fetuses that don't have birth defects or endanger the life of the mother are problematic for me. I know the number is exceedingly rare.

I think fetuses achieve sentience at some point in the pregnancy. At that point the rights of the fetus need to be balanced with the rights of the mother.

Of course the conservatives exploit these type of abortions to ban perfectly reasonable first term abortions in which a fetus cannot be in any way characterized as being sentient. That is also the time that "God" seems to clean up many of His/Her own mistakes.

[Tarc]

6. White genocide conspiracy theory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_genocide_conspiracy_theory

They fear their own looming irrelevance.

[NameAlreadyTaken]

8. They were never loved, so they substitute selfishness

[Midnight Writer]

9. Manipulation. I think powerful monied interests are using sophisticated techniques of influence.

I see data bases for sale that rate individuals on 2000 different parameters.

This information is collected from information collected from sales records, internet interactions, contact collection, and is cross referenced with social media.

Operators know about what you like to eat, your spiritual beliefs, your prejudices, your hobbies, your family, your circle of friends, your professional background and standing, even the kind of porn you like.

Small Group Control is a technique pioneered by the Rand Corporation after WWII. It has been adapted most famously to product advertising. Now with all this information from the internet, it has been fine tuned and targeted to a frightening degree; to appeal to the basic personality traits and values of a person. Traits and values we may not even be consciously aware of.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. Elleng referred to an excellent post about fear. It references newer studies about the amygdala...

largely responsible for the the of the fight or flight response.

I suspect the underlying basis of conservatism, even more basic than fear, is how positioned the self is in society, or the cosmos, even.

Conservatism is essentially a selfish way of thinking-- "I've got mine, and it may be OK if you have yours, but you'll get no help from me." Or maybe it's not even OK if you get yours, especially if it affects me in any way. This can be expanded to communities being selfish on their own, and at the expense of other communities. War is essentially started by this attitude, and goes back to our earliest ancestors-- "Cave #3 is doing better than we are, so lets go steal their food, women and children."

Liberalism does not place oneself in the center of the universe. It is community oriented and wants the community to flourish, without the destruction of other communities. In fact, it believes in everyone doing well, even if some could do better alone.

[Brother Mythos]

11. Inbreeding.

I'm mostly using the term figuratively. Mostly.

[Thomas Hurt]

12. Fear to hatred to anxiety to insecurity to fascism to authoritarian "savior"

Many RWNJs are already primed with a savior, they just swap out Christ for the mortal one.

Welcome to our christofascist theocracy...

[Earthshine2]

14. Right wing media at large. It tells them what to think and whom to hate.

And it feels good to them. And they become addicted to it.

A lot of people love their daily dose of Tucker.

There are broadcasters out there who are worse than Tucker and Rush. These little Rush wannabies fill the airwaves of small towns and rural areas preaching a level of hate and violence beyond what Fox news could ever do.

[DFW]

16. That is the key. "The medium is the message."

As long as Fox "News" and National Hate Radio tell a large percentage of Americans what to think, that is indeed the way they will think.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

19. Fascist Oligarch eXtremists study how to manipulate, then do so.

[ananda]

15. Insanity

Nothing they do or say makes sense any more.

I think that’s because hate and authoritarianism
don’t make sense.

Thus, they no longer have ideas that make sense,
and they are so entrenched in a failed, absurd way
of life and thinking, that they have now retreated
into bizarre conspiracy thinking and paranoid
victimhood.

[CommonHumanity]

17. Class consciousness?

I'm all in with Applegrove's reply.

Also want to add one thing. Excuse me for being captain obvious, but isn't it the same as it ever was throughout history?

The problem isn't really the "conservation" pathology per se, but the fact that a lot of our fellow citizens buy into it and keep it alive rather than letting it die in the corner as it should. Quite simply - Those with money and power work in tandem with similarly privileged/protected religious figures to promote an ideology that keeps people that are poor and haven't had the education/opportunity/time to develop a critical analysis of the system complicit in their own oppression. Religion, propaganda-driven beliefs, trickle-down economics/revering the wealthy and scapegoating are the timeless tools that cause endless oppression, obfuscation of the real issues and generation upon generation of suffering.

Ain't that the story that has always been and continues to be? Btw not saying it is inevitable or unalterable. Seems people becoming "woke" to the system is key. I'm sure there is a better way to say it than woke, but it eludes me and I think you know what I mean.
Apparently, unions once played a role in disseminating critical thinking about issues like class, systemic oppression, and working-class power, but there went that. Anyway seems to me that class consciousness and "wokeness" or whatever you want to call it is key.

We are divided against ourselves (duh). I see it even here and in myself, in the way we disparage Trumpers for example. Believe me, no judgment is intended in saying this. It is hard to see the racism, hatred, environmental damage, shitting on humanitarian values and the list goes on. Those behaviors and views should be condemned. But I think we also need to keep the big picture in mind. Namely that our system has created a huge number of people who are economically insecure and feel they have no voice and no power. Corrupted religion, demagogues, and other components of conservative pathology offer a voice and way to have value and belong in a system that throws people away. So yeah, without an accurate critique of the system people are going to seek voices that affirm their value and reassure them and those who promulgate "conservative pathology" seem to know just how to craft the message that speaks to them.

Case in point - Courtesy of DU member Soothsayer:

Biden won less than 500 counties, but they account for 70% OF US GDP.
Trump won 2400 counties, accounting for 29% of US GDP.

I think that says a lot. I saw a video where AOC talked about how we need to "punch up - not down". I think we need to remember that in the broadest sense as we think about narratives that can counter and dilute conservative pathology.