Authority Numbers
Reading How Democracies Die by Levitsky and Ziblatt that is mainly about how authoritarians can rise to subvert democracies. They present some interesting numbers for some of the most famous authoritarians in American history:
Hugh Long - (1934) Mailing list of 8 million names at the height of his power.
Father Coughlin - (1938) 27% approve, 32% disapprove.
Joseph McCarthy - (1954) pre-censure approval: 50%, post-censure approval: 40%.
George Wallace - (1968) 40% approval.
It seems that the American predilection for strong men has been with us throughout the past century.
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Founding Father
“History will teach us that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the great number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.
— Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Papers #1
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Thin Mints
Girl Scout Mother: We have thin mint cookies for sale.
Questioner #1: So, do you keep them in the freezer like I’ve been told to do?
GSM: Personally, no. They don’t last that long.
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