Authoritarian is defined as favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of government, at the expense of personal freedom. Authoritarianism drives from believing in the static, unwavering set of rules about power , control, submission, and obedience. The Superego is the internal representation of traditional values and ideals of society as interpreted to the child by the parents and enforced by a system of rewards and punishments for behavior. This disquisition describes an authoritarian conscience within the superego for many Trump followers.
Trump is the head of a group called Republicans. He is leading a few apparently seeking the nomination for president . Trump, while previously in office, was impeached twice and recently lost a court case to E. Jean Caroll for sex abuse and defamation; is awaiting trial for stealing government documents; facing a possible indictment in Georgia; and another indictment for attempting to steal the 2020 presidential election. Members of Trump's inner circle are facing indictments, loss of legal license; and over a thousand of his followers have been found guilty for
Sigmund Freud , included the biological, psychological and social components in his model with id, ego, and superego concepts . Freud's superego incorporated both conscience and the ego ideal in his understanding of the mind. The superego represented the critical , moralizing , censor role in dealing with the ego, which is the organized , realistic and reality agent . The ego also mediates between the instinctual desires of the id and the critical superego. The child , with his superego , learns right from wrong as a result of the disciplinarian's ideas , beliefs and actions . The authorities' reinforcement ratio of consistency or inconsistency becomes a factor and affects learning good from bad, right from wrong. Obeying the disciplinarian's principles is followed by praise, smiles, hugs, and other actions. Disobeying the authorities' rules is followed by aggressive , harsh verbalizations such as "no" , physical expressions and/or loss of love. The learning of right and wrong is based upon the expectation of an occurrence of reward or punishment. With a humanistic upbringing , the child identifies and internalizes syntonic societal principles. With authoritarian upbringing , the child identifies and internalizes dystonic societal values Thus, either ethical or unethical values become part of the individual ‘s conscience regardless of whether it’s good or bad for self or society .
Children, initially, don't feel guilt for wrongdoing , but instead experience fear of violating the laws and sanctions of the authority figure. Rules become internalized in their conscience which influences the image of that external authority. While passing through life stages , character is formed and significantly influenced by the development of an authoritarian conscience . The person, moreover , finds inner security by becoming symbolically part of that authority. That authority is always felt to be greater and more powerful than self. In other words, the individual feels he is participating in the authorities' strength . He becomes “like’ the authority or his role model . With internalization, he submits to that authority and becomes a strict taskmaster to himself while developing tendencies of sadism and destructiveness .
An additional part of the superego, is called the ego ideal .The ego ideal is an unrealistic over evaluation of the self and dependent on parental rewards for developing self approval, self-love and self-esteem . However, when doing “bad” or disobeying the disciplinarian results in guilt . Guilt can also occur for transgressions with “bad” thoughts. It’s the ego ideal that identifies and internalizes the authority's power, perfection and omnipotence. Unrealistic ideals can lead to dissatisfaction in life because one can't achieve the fantasy or the perfection as in not receiving a pardon , being indicted or losing one's license .
During development, the personalized representations of parental authority are replaced and introjected with other powerful authority figures ,heroes or idols. However, they “exhibit” unrealistic qualities of being the most beautiful, the most successful, the most powerful, the most intelligent, etc. They are unattainable qualities and function as an attempt to compensate for self related inadequacies .However, idols are illusions and are simply exaggerations of reality .They also represent and signify moral or immoral , ethical or unethical principles. Homo sapiens develop needs to admire , seek perfection and power because of insecurities. In other words, the ego ideal authority is colored , not real, that occurs in the workings within the superego. Within a conscience , character becomes influenced by these exaggerated qualities .
With an authoritarian conscience ,moral and amoral become discordant with humanistic ethical values . As a result, the individual, based upon his identification in his ego ideal , creates an unshakable conviction and belief in that authority. In fact, he becomes unable to differentiate fact from fiction regardless of reality . Further, the ego ideal can be represented with imaginations, identifications, and heroes with the likes of Nero, Atila the Hun, Dillinger, Hitler and other despicables like Trump . Trump lost the 2020 election . He and followers attempted to steal it. Trump was a fraud.
Another example of the significance of the ego ideal pertains to Juwan Howard’s son Jett. Father was a member of the "fabulous five" at the University of Michigan. After leaving Michigan, Juwan was a first-round draft pick in the NBA and has a championship ring as well. While playing for the Miami Heat, father brought son Jett to his practices. Roughly at five years of age, Jett became acquainted with Coach Spoelstra and Pat Riley, the legend. The young man's goal within his ego ideal was to play on the big stage like his father . Jett attended the University of Michigan and was coached by head coach Howard. This year ,Jett was a number one first round draft pick by the Orlando Magic. Good luck Jett .
One lesson from the Old Testament illustrates that physical punishment is subservient and not as powerful as that of rejection for regulating behavior. In the Biblical story, God accepted Abel's offerings but did not accept Cain's. Not giving any reason, God did to Caine the worst thing that can be done to anyone. He refused his offering and rejected him. This rejection was unbearable for Cain. Cain killed Abel who had deprived him of the indispensable. Cain's punishment was that he was not killed, nor harmed, and God forbid anyone to kill him. Cain was now an outcast after God rejected him. He was separated from his fellowmen, and Cain said "my punishment is greater than I can bear."
How many of Trump' s followers marched on the capitol on January 6 ? How many exhibited sadistic actions towards capital police and destructiveness during the attack? Did they all expect to be pardoned and/or were their interactions simply permitted to operate under the guise of virtue as some referred to this event as a 1776 occurrence ? Enmity , cruelty and destruction was noticeably apparent. One rioter was seen sitting with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi's desk. They said they were acting with a good conscience because they were obedient and followed Trump's orders . But realistically , they expected to be saved by Trump. They would have felt guilt if they hadn’t followed his direction.
Trump demanded submission and his power is attributed to his wisdom and strength. He is unmatched by anyone else. In fact, Alina Hobbs, one of Trump's lawyers has now become a legal spokesman and General Counsel for The Save America Leadership Pack. In fact, she said this was a "privilege of a lifetime." The other pretenders remain unable to criticize him as they are fearful of retribution and rejection. To be rejected means to face the horror of nothingness. And, rebellion against authority is sinful and obedience is virtue. Obedience implies a recognition of the authorities, power, wisdom, and reward. The authority demands submission on the conviction of his moral superiority and his righteousness. So far Trump’s their guy.
The essence for a democracy is the ability of the individual to choose freedom . Authoritarianism is the opposite , the individual becomes enslaved to the other . Trump's ethical and moral character and behavior are toxic and destructive for everyone in society. Man has reason, with knowledge, understanding , identification, a superego , and an ego ideal at his disposal . But, the attitude of power, sadism , destruction , division and hate are not equated with a moral and ethical unrestricted independence or freedom . instead , it’s a tyranny for mankind . And, beware of the promise that he has the possession of power, who claims he can take care and protect the weak that submit to him and free him from the burden of uncertainty in order to make him feel secure.
Fromm, Erich. Man For Himself an inquiry into the psychology of ethics.
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