A long-lost resource for understanding political bullying was recently found, transcribed, and published for the first time: a recording of a 1967 lecture by sociologist Theodor W. Adorno. He spoke to a group of college students who wanted to know what to do about the rise of a new far-right party in Germany. Several points Adorno made about 1960s Germany sound like they could have been made in a TED Talk yesterday–about either Germany or the USA.
Among these:
- The party was motivated by fantasies of catastrophe (p. 10).
- They could not say in public what they really believe and want. Adorno put it this way: “One might say that all ideological expressions of right-wing extremism are characterized by a constant conflict between not being allowed to say something and those things that, as one agitator recently described it, are intended to bring audiences to boiling point” (p. 24).
- The party’s publications push the limits of acceptable speech, deftly staying just inside the law (p. 23).
- Its messaging (he calls it propaganda) is aimed more at promoting “the authority-bound personality” than an ideology (p. 28).
Adorno’s recommendation for standing up to the bullies:
“[T]he only thing that really strikes me as effective is to warn the potential followers of right-wing extremism about its own consequences, to convey to them that this politics will inevitably lead to their doom too…. So if one is serious about opposing these things, one must refer to the central interests of those who are targeted by the propaganda. This applies especially to young people, whom one must warn about every kind of drill, about the restriction of their privacy and lifestyle” (p. 17).
I call this the MAGA Curse, and it’s important to warn people about it.
Reference
Adorno, T. W. (2021). Aspects of the new right-wing extremism (W. Hoban, Trans.). Polity Press. (Original work published 2019)