Authoritarianism

14

Oct 28, 2016

 Authoritarianism

As we approach this election it is interesting to examine the reasons that spiritual seekers are for or against the two main presidential candidates – or even a third party.

As far as third party goes the voter should realize that there is zero chance that a third party candidate will win. The only effect of voting third party is some feeling of satisfaction that one participated in the process.

The fact is that one of the two major candidates will win and by not voting or voting third party is to create a greater chance that the most dangerous of the two will win.

Some say that they cannot vote for either candidate because he or she does not represent their views or values. Well, I have been voting for about 50 years now and so far I have not found the perfect candidate. Many of those who seemed reasonable performed below the hopes of the people with a small handful doing a good job.

My philosophy is to vote for the best candidate who has a possibility of winning. If I were to vote for a person who thinks exactly like myself I would have to write my own name in which would be just as big of a waste as voting for a candidate who has single digit poll numbers.

This election is interesting in that Trump and Clinton are conjuring up more intense negativity than any two candidates in memory. People have a love or hate relationship with Trump or a snooze or hate relationship with Hillary. Trump draws crowds of over 15,000 while Hillary has to work to get a couple hundred to a rally. Donald’s vice president Pence draws Hillary sized crowds while Hillary’s Vice President, Kaine draws tiny crowds. The other day all he could gather in Florida was 30 people to listen to him.

I guess you could say that Trump is trying to win through entertainment, excitement and getting our blood in circulation while Hillary is trying to win us over by putting us into a dreamless sleep, boring us into submission.

There seems to be a lot of illusion around the two candidates, the main one is the comparison of Trump to Hitler or at best way too authoritarian. Those who compare Trump to Hitler have obviously not studied history. I dealt with this myth in an earlier post which is on my website.

That said, we never know for sure what we will get in a president until he or she serves for a time in office, but so far in my life of 71 years each president has performed pretty close to my expectations.

So, between the two, which candidate will be the more authoritarian? Let’s take a look.

  1. Immigration.

Trump wants to work within the law and deport those who have broken it, as the law states, and then open a “big door” to let the peaceable people back in legally.

Hillary supports violating the law as she strongly criticizes Trump for wanting to enforce it. She seems to support Sanctuary cities which violate law as her campaign manager last year said this, “Hillary Clinton believes that sanctuary cities can help further public safety, and she has defended those policies going back years.”

The true authoritarian thinks he is above the law and will not work within it unless it suits him. One cannot say that Trump is overly authoritarian for desiring to enforce the law, for true authoritarians work outside the law.

A great example of one who worked within the law was Abraham Lincoln. When he became president slavery was abhorrent to him. Even though he didn’t like the slavery laws at all he knew his best course was not to violate the law, but to seek to change it. Until the laws were changed he worked within them as he realized that selectively ignoring law could lead to anarchy and the eventual collapse of the country.

Even so, if we are not happy with immigration law (which was created by both parties) we should seek to change them rather than violate them with some imagined authority.

  1. The Second Amendment & Guns

Again Trump merely wants the Second Amendment to apply as written and supports most the laws to date and doesn’t want to further infringe on the right to bear arms.

Hillary says she is willing to bypass Congress and use executive orders to create additional regulations.

On this issue Hillary is far more authoritarian.

  1. Obamacare

This is the most authoritarian gab for control of our lives that has ever come down the pike in this country.

Trump wants to repeal it and replace it with one that is less authoritarian and works more efficiently. Hillary wants to keep it and fine tune the system.

Which candidate is more authoritarian here? It should be obvious.

  1. Regulations in general

Trump wants fewer regulations. He especially wants to eliminate those that hinder our economy and our freedoms.

Hillary wants more regulations governing just about every area of our lives.

Which is the more authoritarian approach? Obviously it takes strong authority to implement and enforce infringing regulations.

  1. Big government.

Trump wants to reduce the size of government whereas all of Hillary’s plans will just make it bigger. Big government is more authoritarian than small government.

So, where do people get the idea that Trump is more authoritarian than Hillary? It is certainly not from his policies. Instead, I would guess it is this.

He has a commanding presence; his speech and charisma draw attention. When he speaks people listen and huge crowds are drawn giving him more of an air of authority than Clinton, though he is less authoritative in policy.

Conclusion, if the seeker plans on voting for Clinton because she is less authoritative then I would suggest he or she take a deeper look.

Copyright by J J Dewey

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