Summary of John W. Dean & Bob Altemeyer's Authoritarian Nightmare

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Trump, despite being unschooled in genetic mutation and viral transmission, still decided that the COVID-19 virus was not a big deal. As a result, America took totally inadequate protective measures, and became widely infected with the virus.
#2 The first known victim of the coronavirus was a Chicago woman who had traveled to Wuhan and become ill after returning on Jan. 13. A second passenger from Wuhan arrived in Seattle on Jan. 15 with the disease. But it turned out that two persons in Northern California may have contracted the disease even earlier through community spread.
#3 For years, many people had warned that a pandemic like COVID-19 would eventually strike the country, and scientists had developed models predicting how it would spread and what would be needed to minimize the damage. But Trump was not interested in the virus, and his staff knew they shouldn’t bother him with uninteresting things unless they were prepared to be yelled at.
#4 On January 22, 2020, Trump was asked if there were concerns about a pandemic, and he replied, No. Not at all. But new cases continued to appear elsewhere, and American health officials began speaking aloud about how unprepared the country was for an epidemic.

Sujets

• Ideology

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 26 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669366836
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on John W. Dean's Authoritarian Nightmare
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7 Insights from Chapter 8 Insights from Chapter 9 Insights from Chapter 10 Insights from Chapter 11 Insights from Chapter 12
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Trump, despite being unschooled in genetic mutation and viral transmission, still decided that the COVID-19 virus was not a big deal. As a result, America took totally inadequate protective measures, and became widely infected with the virus.

#2

The first known victim of the coronavirus was a Chicago woman who had traveled to Wuhan and become ill after returning on Jan. 13. A second passenger from Wuhan arrived in Seattle on Jan. 15 with the disease. But it turned out that two persons in Northern California may have contracted the disease even earlier through community spread.

#3

For years, many people had warned that a pandemic like COVID-19 would eventually strike the country, and scientists had developed models predicting how it would spread and what would be needed to minimize the damage. But Trump was not interested in the virus, and his staff knew they shouldn’t bother him with uninteresting things unless they were prepared to be yelled at.

#4

On January 22, 2020, Trump was asked if there were concerns about a pandemic, and he replied, No. Not at all. But new cases continued to appear elsewhere, and American health officials began speaking aloud about how unprepared the country was for an epidemic.

#5

Trump’s travel ban on China did nothing to stop the spread of the virus in the United States. Instead, it allowed the disease to pour into the country from China, and it took almost four trillion dollars to recover from this mistake.

#6

Some conservative media outlets, such as Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and the Washington Times, reassured their listeners that the coronavirus was unimportant and nothing to worry about.

#7

Trump continued to insist that the virus was being well-contained, even as other countries were experiencing rapidly climbing infection rates. Stock markets began to fall from record highs on February 13, 2020, and Trump did not address the threat of the virus. He instead blamed news networks for worrying investors.

#8

American public health officials and doctors, who knew otherwise, were battling the growing epidemic day after day, risking their lives to save others.

#9

By mid-March, Trump could no longer pretend to be ignorant about the severity of the situation. He addressed the nation from the Oval Office on March 11, reading a statement written by Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner. He announced that no one from Europe would be allowed into the United States.

#10

The American public watched as the administration’s medical experts repeated the same phrase over and over: social distancing is crucial to stopping the spread of the virus. However, they were standing elbow to elbow behind the microphone in the confined White House briefing room.

#11

Trump initially tried to sound the alarm about China’s disease, but his approval rating only increased by 3 percent. He eventually extended the social distancing guidelines through April, and framed the situation in terms of how many people would have died if governments had done nothing.

#12

On April 4, Trump announced that China was giving New York a thousand respirators. Meanwhile, thirty thousand new cases of the virus were being recorded daily, and the government knew that social distancing would be reduced if the economy improved.

#13

The debate around mask wearing became very political, with some saying that it was tyranny to make people wear masks, and others saying that it was a sign of support for Trump to not wear one.

#14

Donald Trump has tried to change the history of how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that he always took it seriously and that he knew it was a pandemic before anyone else. However, the country seems to believe his monumentally false rewrite.

#15

As the nation was reaching its 100,000th COVID-19 death, a white policeman in Minneapolis was recorded on video (by a passerby) killing a Black man who was handcuffed and being held down on the paving by a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. The man, George Floyd, begged for his life.

#16

Trump became president with a terrible record when it came to dealing with racial issues. In 1989, he took out a full-page ad in four New York newspapers calling for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, who were arrested for the rape and assault of a jogger in Central Park.

#17

The George Floyd protests, while largely peaceful, drew attention to the police brutality that exists in America. While the president tried to downplay the violence, mounting Park Police, National Guard units, and federalized police used pepper spray and billy clubs to remove demonstrators from the streets surrounding Lafayette Park.

#18

Trump had used the Black Lives Matter protests to flaunt his authoritarian inclinations and put on a show of a would-be autocrat for his base. But he was making unprecedented use of the American military.

#19

When you find yourself asking questions about Trump’s unwavering support and the loyalty of his base, you have unwittingly entered the world of authoritarianism. Autocratic followers will not allow individual freedom, and they will turn a blind eye to obviously immoral and outright unlawful acts.

#20

Americans elected a very traditional type of authoritarian leader with Donald Trump in 2016. He is a demagogue, and his words and actions are meant to appeal to people’s prejudices rather than their intellect.

#21

Academic psychology made a determined effort to understand authoritarianism during World War II and kept at it for more than thirty years.

#22

The field of authoritarianism is studied by psychologists, political scientists, and sociologists, with each discipline developing its own focus and definitions while using its preferred methods.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

Trump’s statements demonstrate his strong desire for power, which he needs to dominate others. He has spent his life seeking to dominate others, and he treats every encounter as a contest he has to win.

#2

Trump’s relationship with his mother was reportedly cold, and he was very detached from her. He developed a sense of showmanship and a drive for dominance from his father, who was tough, hard-driving, and astute.