Any authoritarian movement can be evaluated by the size of its tribe and the strength of its boundaries. By definition it is led by one person absolutely certain of his or (rarely) her intuitions, intelligence, and abilities. After that, how toxic such a movement becomes mostly relates to how isolated its inner members are from the rest of the population.
Leaders always know that. The first thing an authoritarian must do is separate his congregation from all the “others” who are either too stupid to know better or – in the worst cases – “not people” at all.
Because once you have tagged those outsiders, you no longer need to treat them like your fellow tribesfolk. They can be defined as animals to be trained and enslaved, or simply germs to be killed. None of the tribal beliefs and laws apply to anyone who is not part of the cult.
Authoritarian leaders only survive by being ruthlessly powerful. Their only core concern is maintaining that power whether they believe their goals are true and bright or whether they are simply augmenting their own status and wealth. Anyone in their way is – again by definition – an outsider and in the worst cases not a person at all.
It remains an open question whether those who believe “all humans are people” can endure against our modern, technologically enabled, authoritarian gangs.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 