: : Lastly don't forget the possibility of benevolent authoritarianism.: That's going to be a hard sell...
Not necessarily.
The masses are eager to believe that a free lunch is available. It's the mechanism behind Lottery fever. If your ship doesn't come in via a hot lottery ticket, perhaps this politician promising you a shiny new utopia will do as well. Never mind that the politician is appealing to the ignorance of the masses, it's worked before and it'll work again. Free health care. Social security and general assistance, not to mention day care centers; all free. All we need to do is tax the corporations, and cut off welfare to the same corporations.
It's the sort of rhetoric that appeals to the slave mentality, a prime target for unsavory politicians.
