I know that authoritarian is a lib-brained anti-communist term that one shouldn't use unironically. But what other term would you use to describe those who seems to have a love for the exercise of state violence and coercion for its own sake? The howling hogs who cheer when police beat up protesters, the psychos calling for refugees to be gunned down at the border, the monsters who revel in the misery of the poor and love to step on those who cannot defend themselves.

You could call them rightists or conservatives or something like that but that doesn't carry the appropriate stigma or convey the wickedness of their proclivities. You could also call them fascists which would be correct most of the time but it is too broad a term to center in on their specifically sadistic relationship with state power. It also plays into the liberal idea of fascism being defined by "fascist methods" instead of by fascist ideology and belies the existence of the well-mannered and polite fascists who are the most dangerous kind.

  • karl3422 [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    authoritarian isn't quite right for them either though as they would want the cruelty to continue even if the authorities they supposedly respect went against it.

    If in the not going to happen situation occured where the police forces cracked down on the cruel violence from the police they would side with the police who are breaking the law by being cruel not the authority they supposedly support. It's a missrepresentation they don't support cruelty because of authority they support the authority because of it's cruelty