“Authoritarianism in religion and science, let alone politics, is becoming increasingly accepted, not particularly because so many people explicitly believe in it but because they feel themselves individually powerless and anxious. So what else can one do…except follow the mass political leader…or follow the authority of customs, public opinion, and social expectations?”
– Rollo May, Man’s Search for Himself

In this short presentation by Academy of Ideas, entitled, “Why are Most People Cowards? Obedience and the Rise of Authoritarianism,” the concept of hyper-conformity and blind obedience is explored in the context of the new corporatized western culture, and why characteristics like courage are in short supply.