The problem is that people really want authoritarianism, to use against their enemies.

>The problem is that people really want authoritarianism, to use against their enemies.

Look no further than a typical HN comment thread on a niche public policy issue.

They are rife with people scheming up all sorts of ways to thread the needle of public policy so that government enforcement action far in excess of what the public would support can be brought to bear on whoever is on the wrong side of whatever the issue being discussed is.

	▲	ModernMech a day ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, if you go into my comment history from just this week there's a guy who told me "We won the last election. We can and will, with sadness but determination power, turn the power of the state against you and make you leave us the hell alone." That's the mindset of an authoritarian. No needle threading here though, just use "the power of the state to" get our way (no sadness detected).