American Anomie:
The Vulnerability of a Society
By reviewing the works of Emile Durkheim, most notably, as well as other established academics in a variety of fields, a consensus can be drawn as to the vulnerability of a country like the United States. When confronting the argument made by Amitai Etzioni to the effect that countries like the United States are more individualistic and anomic and therefore more likely to undergo a fascist shift in government, this can be corroborated by implementing the sociological perspective. Karl Marx and Max Weber, similarly looked at the issues of exploitation of workers and the issues surrounding the cold and unfriendly nature of bureaucracy, respectively. When tied together with social psychological studies of conformity, such as the Milgram experiment, sociology is especially useful when used to gauge the issues surrounding the structures and individual strain in American society that puts it and others societies like it at risk for fascism. This type of analysis allows the sociological researcher to come to find what Durkheim referred to as social facts. This can take us beyond the pale of individual psychology and even beyond political science, to a well constructed confirmation of Etzioni’s proposition. The United States is vulnerable to authoritarian rule and demagogical reaching by the very way in which the anomic society rests, allowing Etzioni’s ideas to be sociologically presented as social fact.
It is most relevant and wise to explain Stanley Milgram’s work in the area of psychology, more specifically individual reactions to authority in the United States. This is important, as a sociological thinker would immediately look at the lowest common denominator in a scenario and then proceed with more in depth analysis of the individual’s role in a social group. The Milgram experiment is very effective in looking at mass obedience, as the Milgram Experiment showed results that were unexpected and hard to explain psychologically and more relevant to social psychology. It was in this experiment that Milgram undertook at Yale to understand how individuals under a Nazi regime could do such horrendous acts to their fellow man that really goes into the willingness of individuals to obey an authority figure, despite any pain that they perceived to be inflicting. Participants in this study were told to administer a series of increasingly intense electric shocks if a “learner” provided wrong answers to questions, the “learner” was not actually receiving these shocks, but acted as if he was in dire pain and had a heart condition. Well over half of the subjects asked to administer shocks did so to the point of using the maximum perceived voltage three times. Milgram concluded from this that the individual had little internal resources to fight with an authority figure and even went as far to suggest that people became easily lost in a supposedly authoritarian group, feeling that their actions were right because an authority simply said this was true.
When looking at obedience to authority from this social psychology perspective and then looking at anomie in sociology and finally authoritarianism in politics, the risk for individuals to become easily willed into fascism is as simple as it is scary. Durkheim and others have taken a larger global look at the individuals willingness to participate in authoritarian behaviors rather than morally oppose them. The anomic state of America predisposes individuals to crave and call for laws and structure from authority rather than to submit to personal will and desire. Durkheim explains this very well in many of his works. Marx contributes to the argument for fascism in America by laying down a foundation to understand how easily the working class can be exploited through meager pay and abusive and tyrannical bosses. When the working class, who make up the majority of workers in America allow themselves to be exploited, this leaves most of the population in a perpetual state of normlessness. Weber, also, made his contribution by analyzing the cold and unfeeling nature of bureaucracy. Though, all of these theorists were from European countries, their theories are global and fit into the American landscape quite well. The highly bureaucratic nature of American politics and business illustrates the anomie and confusion of workers caught in such a system. With increasing technology, as well, workers become further alienated from coworkers and society at large when formal behaviors replace informal behaviors, such as communication and socialization.
At this point one can see the impact on a reliance of the informal bureaucracy and anomie tied in with a call for more law and order. With this fascism can easily follow. Demagogical political processes can easily be used to facilitate fear and disseminate propaganda. When individuals are already accustomed to bureaucracy and already lost in anomie, the use of demagogy by a country, such as America can be skillfully used to test a captive public, just as Milgram tested his subjects. It is easy to reason that individuals will easily follow authority and succumb to fascism. Themes of nationalism and prejudices toward any dissenters can further this fascist agenda. Though the aims of sociology are much to the extent of research, applying sociology means being aware of this type of vulnerability and spreading awareness to others as to their own susceptibility toward blindly following authority and falling prey to their own fears and ultimately, their own government.
References
Etzioni, A. “Are Particularistic Obligations Justified? A Communitarian Examination” in The Review of Politics. (Fall 2002). 64,4. pp. 573-598.
