Has COVID brought out the authoritarian streak in Democrats?

[TheReckoning]

Looking at the first question on the PM test:

“The right to individual autonomy is important, even if it threatens collective security.”

I feel like COVID has made many Democrats disagree with this statement- first with lockdowns, and now with vaccine mandates.

What do you think?

[Del Tachi]

They were obviously authoritarian before, so no. 

[Damocles]

They were obviously authoritarian before, so no. 

That's rich, coming from someone whose home state implemented its own version of the Stasi to intimidate, spy on, harass, and extrajudicially murder political opponents of the government, as well as lending funding and support to civilian sycophants willing to enforce such violence on the state's behalf.

[Del Tachi]

They were obviously authoritarian before, so no. 

That's rich, coming from someone whose home state implemented its own version of the Stasi to intimidate, spy on, harass, and extrajudicially murder political opponents of the government, as well as lending funding and support to civilian sycophants willing to enforce such violence on the state's behalf.

...and all those people were Democrats, yes?  lmao

[Damocles]

...and all those people were Democrats, yes?  lmao

Yes, exactly. You've got it right. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

[Ferguson97]

No (sane, normal)

If not being apple to go to Applebee's for two weeks and having to wear a mask during a pandemic is your idea of authoritarianism, then you have lived an extremely sheltered and privileged life.

[YE]

Trump/rise of the far right did if anything.

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

They were obviously authoritarian before, so no. 

That's rich, coming from someone whose home state implemented its own version of the Stasi to intimidate, spy on, harass, and extrajudicially murder political opponents of the government, as well as lending funding and support to civilian sycophants willing to enforce such violence on the state's behalf.

...and all those people were Democrats, yes?  lmao

Lets not judge modern democrats for the kinds of people who, if they stayed alive until the present day, would have voted for trump twice without hesitation.

[Xing]

“Authoritarian” honestly feels like it’s the next political buzzword to have no consistent meaning.

[Big Abraham]

“Authoritarian” honestly feels like it’s the next political buzzword to have no consistent meaning.

That's authoritarian.

[progressive85]

It's more of a "science and play-it-safe-or-else-you-die" streak.  Versus the Trump Party's "trust in God and do what you want, don't buy into the media" streak.  Sadly, that strategy taken by the right wing has led to many of them dying and desperately wishing they had not spread lies and misinformation on their death beds.

It was the last thing on Earth we needed at the wrong time to exasperate the divisions that were already there.

I don't like mandates or restrictions or any of the sort, but this constant dumping on Democrats for trying to contain the virus in their cities is ridiculous.  You can't just let COVID spread rapidly through a place like Boston or NYC without some kind of government response.

[Middle-aged Europe]

"Authoritarian" streak or not, it's a bit silly to reduce it to just the Democrats or an American perspective. If you look at that global level pretty much every party in the Western world who doesn't happen to be right-wing populist (with notable exceptions like Sweden, of course) has implemented the same COVID policies the Democratic Party had in the U.S. - In return most right-wing populists in Europe seem to follow the GOP's lead on COVID.

So, a more correct question would be "has COVID brought out the authoritarian streak in centrist mainstream establishment parties"? A question I would answer with a "no" btw, especially considering that most establishment politicians in my own country seem to be rushing to lift restrictions again as soon as the infection numbers are going down even when they're criticized by virologists and the media for these "premature" actions, and the current situation is that pretty much everything is done to prevent or postpone another full lockdown with only miniscule and gradual tightenings of rules compared to the situation in 2020. I understand that it is pretty much also the case with the Democrats in America (I'm also aware that there's some weird culture war about mask mandates going on in the U.S. which indeed seems to be a rather genuine American phenomenon, therefore I consider it an entirely different issue altogether.)

[Xing]

“Authoritarian” honestly feels like it’s the next political buzzword to have no consistent meaning.

That's authoritarian.

No u r

[S019]

Clownish thread by the OP

[SWE]

The democratic party response to covid has been that the government is powerless to do anything to help it's citizens and that the pandemic can be reduced to individual responsibility.

[beaver2.0]

It's showed that there is a considerable "safety at all costs" streak.  A lot of what is being called authoritarianism might come from a place of good intentions but ultimately is not good.

[MATTROSE94]

It's showed that there is a considerable "safety at all costs" streak.  A lot of what is being called authoritarianism might come from a place of good intentions but ultimately is not good.

The same thing happened after 9/11, though both parties were reversed in their positions back then.

[Donerail]

New polling showing ~45% of Democrats support forcing people into internment camps, so yes, I'd say so.

[TheReckoning]

New polling showing ~45% of Democrats support forcing people into internment camps, so yes, I'd say so.

??

[Donerail]

New polling showing ~45% of Democrats support forcing people into internment camps, so yes, I'd say so.

??

Rassy – 1/13/22
Fine the unvaccinated – 34% of the general public "strongly" or "somewhat" support (including 55% of Democrats)
Require the unvaccinated to remain confined to their homes at all times – 34% (59%)
Require the unvaccinated temporarily live in designated facilities or locations – 26% (45%)
Fine or imprison anyone who questions the efficacy of the existing vaccines – 27% (48%)
Require the unvaccinated to use a tracking app or wearable device to ensure they are socially distancing – 28% (47%)
Take their kids away – 16% (29%)

It's not really about the vaccine mandates themselves, and it's definitely not about "not being apple [sic] to go to Applebee's for two weeks." Roughly half of the people who still self-identify as Democrats (a shrinking number, thank god) support incredibly harsh (and illegal) punishment against anyone who’s chosen not to get vaccinated — maybe "authoritarian" is a buzzword, but there is a concerning authoritarian streak that's emerged among Democrats (not their politicians, but their voters).

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

“Authoritarian” honestly feels like it’s the next political buzzword to have no consistent meaning.

While the image of what people have in the word is clearly applicable in this case, I  agree it's a rather silly buzzword. I go out of my way not to use it.

[RINO Tom]

Regardless of the "good" reasons behind their views at this point, the answer is unequivocally YES.  Not sure how that could even be argued.  Even if you think every single COVID measure is worth it, you are now arguing for that from a very, very authoritarian and paternalistic perspective.

[TheReckoning]

Trump/rise of the far right did if anything.

Expand on that?

[Antonio the Sixth]

To some extent, yes, but by and large it's brought up the extreme shortsighted individualism of a vast majority of Americans (which there was plenty of evidence for before, but had never been laid out in such stark contrast). I'm one of the people who thinks many European countries have gone and are going too far with restrictions, but the tenor of discourse in the US (and on this forum) is so far slanted in the other direction that it becomes pointless to even try making a nuanced point, as I've found out twice recently.

[RINO Tom]

To some extent, yes, but by and large it's brought up the extreme shortsighted individualism of a vast majority of Americans (which there was plenty of evidence for before, but had never been laid out in such stark contrast). I'm one of the people who thinks many European countries have gone and are going too far with restrictions, but the tenor of discourse in the US (and on this forum) is so far slanted in the other direction that it becomes pointless to even try making a nuanced point, as I've found out twice recently.

This "shortsighted individualism" is in the DNA of our country, and it is only praised in past Americans (like the Founders) with rose-tinted hindsight glasses.  For better or worse, we don't like our liberties restricted for a "common good" that some expert (be he/she in the field of medicine, economics, politics or whatever else) has decreed to us.  It seemed to be a longstanding consensus in the US that we would take the good with the bad in that, at least knowing that we have the safeguards in place to stop excessive government control over our daily lives.  "Where at least I know I'm free" and all that stuff.  Again, for better or for worse, Democrats have effectively left Republicans and (most) independents at the altar on this...