You're right about people being fundamentally driven by the need for emotional safety. That safety comes from confidence, which itself can either come from stud

You're right about people being fundamentally driven by the need for emotional safety. That safety comes from confidence, which itself can either come from study and training, or delusion. Delusional confidence leading to a feeling of personal safety is not problem that gets a lot of attention, because it's understandable and to criticize it seems like it lacks empathy. But I'd argue that letting it slide is just like when parents let their kids do anything they want, without boundaries. It's not nice, or empathic, or loving: it's a cop-out, it's easy, and worst of all, it harms the child. Structure, with limits, boundaries, expectations, is good and healthy for kids (and for adults). I find myself comforted by the fact that, in some ways, the spasm toward fascism and ignorant belief is a cry for help, a demand to be held accountable, a plaintive request to be corrected. They don't actually hate elitism, they just hate the elites we have. (Well, except for one, paradoxically).