Thread by @JYSexton

"The Autocratic Disease: Fragile Men and the Rise of Authoritarianism"

What we are seeing now, with the rise of fascism, with attacks on democratic institutions, with blatant and widespread cruelty, is murderous, male insecurity put into political action

themuckrake.com/blog/autocrati…

There is a long history of fascism as male insecurity turned into political movement. It follows financial strife, lost wars, power changes, and it is always fronted by insecure men like Trump, like Putin, like Netanyahu, like Kim Jong Un. We have to recognize the weakness.

Trump and Netanyahu's meeting yesterday, like every meeting between Trump and Putin, Trump and Kim Jong Un, was a meeting of two wounded, insecure men seeking the help of other wounded, insecure men in order to maintain their grip on fleeting power.

With these insecure men, particularly Donald Trump, there is a bleeding wound at the center of them, a black hole that can't be filled or satiated. They must have infinite power and unfailing loyalty. They are projecting their own insecurities on the world with disastrous results

Why do despots work together?

They recognize their own insecurity and desperation and unceasing wants in one another. They have to craft a world that suits their desperation and works solely for them.

It's been like this for generations. We're watching an old song play again.

Fascism is pathetic weakness masquerading as strength, a show of force by men defined by their fear. It's overcompensation. The rhetoric, the uniforms, the displays of gross cruelty.

With Trump, with Putin, with all of them, it's a murderous facade and it always has been.