#332: “Powerless and Anxious”

“Authoritarianism in religion and science, let alone politics, is becoming increasingly accepted, not particularly because so many people explicitly believe in it but because they feel themselves individually powerless and anxious. So what else can one do…except follow the mass political leader…or follow the authority of customs, public opinion, and social expectations?”*

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*Rollo May, (Man’s Search for Himself) as quoted in Academy of Ideas: Why are Most People Cowards? | Obedience and the Rise of Authoritarianism | January 26, 2022 at https://academyofideas.com/2022/01/why-are-most-people-cowards-obedience-and-the-rise-of-authoritarianism/

Rollo Reece May (April 21, 1909 – October 22, 1994) was an American existential psychologist and author of the influential book Love and Will (1969). He is often associated with humanistic psychology and existentialist philosophy, and alongside Viktor Frankl, was a major proponent of existential psychotherapy. The philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich was a close friend who had a significant influence on his work.| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollo_May