The Manipulation of True Believers and the Emergence of a Second Ideological Possession

In the wake of the events of the past week, most notably Trump supporters storming the Capitol Building in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, I encourage viewers to take a bit of a step back and to consider the bigger picture. If we cannot attempt to see that bigger picture using a longer view we will be doomed to repeat our mistakes. Can we look past the outrage felt by so many to ask the question “What led us to this point?” If we can, we will take the first step towards fixing the problem, rather than either making it worse or simply putting a bandaid on it. In this reading of a section of Chapter 6 of my book Ideological Possession and the Rise of the New Right, I build on the thoughts of Jacques Ellul, Sheldon Wolin, and Wendy Brown.

Link to the book: https://www.routledge.com/Ideological-Possession-and-the-Rise-of-the-New-Right-The-Political-Thought/Johnson/p/book/9781138082113

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