LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARM! Let us reform the harmful side of the AUTHORITARIAN far right.

The authoritarian far right can range from extremes such as Nazism, fascism, National Catholicism, Japanese militarism of the 1930s, or ultra-right military dictatorships, to democratic versions of authoritarianism and illiberal traditionalism. At present, these latter versions govern in countries such as Hungary, Russia, or Belarus, and have recently governed in Poland. Science has found that the far right, like the far left, correlates with psychopathy and malignant narcissism.

The harmful side of this family of far-right ideologies and attitudes is made up of all or some of the following elements:

• Racism, ethnicism, xenophobia, ultranationalism

• Speciesism

• Sexism

• Illiberal conservatism stubbornly intent on maintaining injustices 

• Militarism, a cult of violence, and imperialism 

• Toxic gregariousness

• Harmful dogmatism 

• Searching for external enemies, internal enemies, or preferably both.

• Searching for scapegoats to lynch

• Intolerance

• Authoritarianism 

• Harmful religiosity 

• Glorification of historical figures who committed human rights violations 

• Nationalist narratives that cause conflict

• Identity-based indoctrination 

They respond to basic human instincts, which is why these currents have always existed in human societies, under one name or another, and will probably always exist.

It is a tremendously dangerous dimension of the human species, having caused numerous wars, some of them devastating, with millions or even tens of millions of deaths, and many more victims left amputated, injured, orphaned, homeless, in poverty, etc. It has also been a source of genocides, ethnic cleansings, torture, violence, abuse, unjust discrimination against groups, and other abuses.

And what is more: if we do not keep our guard up and correct that human tendency, those great sufferings will happen again, because history is cyclical, and human DNA remains basically the same; it hardly changes over years or decades, but rather over millennia.

The antidote to prevent the above is to channel those instincts in the healthiest and most balanced way possible, with moderation. Let us turn the need to belong to a group into healthy civic-mindedness that leads us to contribute to the group’s proper functioning, while at the same time respecting other groups and also taking into account the common good of everyone. And in any case, without harming any innocent person.

The best thing the authoritarian far right can do is transition toward a moderate, democratic, and liberal right, as most heirs of Francoism did in Spain, of fascism in Italy, of Nazism in Germany, or of Pinochetism in Chile.

More specifically, the medical treatment for this disease that can cause so much damage consists of the different medicines specified in the articles accessible via the links above. Education for children in all of this is essential, as are pedagogy and social pressure among adults. Travelling and living abroad for a time is also a good remedy, as it helps to open the mind.

It is also advisable for the rest of the parties to establish a cordon sanitaire against both intolerant right-wing authoritarianism and freedom-destroying, plundering ultra-leftism. Let us learn from Germany and the United States, which ban Nazism and communism, respectively.

LIVING WITHOUT HARM: Let us raise the alarm about the danger of the contemporary far left.

At present, the far right has much less social and political impact than, for example, in the 1930s. However, we should not be complacent, because sometimes a major economic crisis, catastrophe, or another highly undesirable situation that liberal democracy cannot solve in the short term is enough to trigger a surge in popular support for extremist options that promise miracle cures.

If you would like to do your part to prevent the harms mentioned above, I encourage you to share these kinds of messages.

Thank you,