if you want to feel your blood run cold, talk to anybody under the age of 21 about the balance between personal freedom and communal security
It is honest-to-god chilling. No wonder we’re electing fascists all over the globe, when people genuinely believe that some people need to be “stopped” from creating (read: thinking) for the common good.
Yes – though it’s not just fiction, though that’s an obvious point in fandom. It’s activism, it’s politics. It’s the resurgence of radfem ideology and the rejection of inclusivity in all areas. It is the truly overwhelming, suffocating “us versus them” mentality that has crept into everything from political views to, yes, shipping and fandom.
It is the total and complete willingness to gravitate towards authorities who offer to take away other’s freedom to make The Good People feel safer, and who do not know how very, terrifyingly wrong that will go.
@agigabyte a detailed breakdown with sources is a bit more than I’m up to at this moment, but generally speaking, authoritarian ideology holds:
Intense allegiance to black and white ideas, especially of Good and Bad, Right and Wrong
Submission and respect for the authorities in their worldview
Acceptance or encouragement of violence towards those who are Bad or Wrong (again, according to their worldview)
The belief that most people would hurt others if there were no consequences
Admiration for leaders who are aggressive and uncompromising
A belief in simple, absolute solutions
The belief that the world is, on average, an unsafe place, and the weak and vulnerable must be protected from it.
I hope that it’s clear how even a left-wing candidate could be authoritarian, and how authoritarian ideology would influence every aspect of a world view, from the laws you support to, yes, the fiction you read.
Creatures from BARLOWE’S GUIDE TO EXTRATERRESTRIALS (1979), by Wayne Barlowe. I posted some different illustrations from this great book a few months ago.
lovingdread 