Theory explains Trump's power: Stupidity is more dangerous than evil - Alternet.org
alternet.org
A decades-old theory about stupidity being more dangerous than malice is being used to explain how Trump and MAGA achieved and hold power — and why that's so hard to counter.
Bonhoeffer's Theory of StupidityCrowd PsychologyAuthoritarianismEpistemic Closure
Theory Briefing
- Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that stupidity, not evil, is the greater threat to society because it resists reason entirely.
- Trump and the MAGA movement's rise is framed not as calculated malice but as the political power of unreasoning mass behavior.
- Bonhoeffer's theory warns that stupidity becomes dangerous when people surrender independent thought to a powerful collective movement.