Totalitarian and post-totalitarian societies maintain power through psychological mechanisms including the desire to obey, the willingness to be misled as long as one feels belonging, and the psychological categories of totalitarianism that the Trump playbook echoes to an eerie degree, suggesting Trump's tactics parallel those of totalitarian leaders.
causalpending
Speaker
Sam HarrisEvidence Quote
“the desire to obey the willingness to be misled so long as you're made to feel as if you belong that those methods by which totalitarian or post-totalitarian societies were able to rule that those in effect recall or well the the Trump Playbook recalls those methods it to an eerie degree [14:42]”
Source
What Happened to the Republican Party?: A Conversation with Bret Stephens (Episode #329)— Sam HarrisCreated: 8/12/2026, 9:43:35 PM
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