I think you misinterpreted my position. My purpose was to provide an explanation of an empirical phenomenon, not to describe a social order I consider ideal. I described social realty as I see it. The behavior I refer to has been extensively studied in social science under the rubric reference groups, relative deprivation and status generalization (which informed my argument). I did not say that this is the world I want to live (quite frankly, I hate it), let alone install a left-wing strong man.
If there is any implication of what I said for the ideal, it is that any attempt to change the world must take into account the 'Barabas factor' - which was just a literary metaphor - or the fact that people are much more eager to condemn those seen as weak and low status, especially when they see them as "encroaching" on "their" place in society, than those perceived as strong and superior.
That is to say, there is nothing noble about being the masses, as a left-wing "noble savage" mythology wants us to believe. Au contraire, there is a lot of false consciousness there that must be changed before, or perhaps concurrently with changing social, political and economic institutions. So mere "letting the people decide" is likely to lead to the worst kind of mob rule imaginable, at least under the current socio-political conditions.
What is more, my point was to explain the current events and make some tentative predictions about not so distant future. I am afraid that we will have four more years of Bush precisely because the Republicans are as good as Hitler in manipulating mob mentality and routing their political opponents. I am terrified by that prospect, but I also think it that there is not much we can to do prevent it.
Wojtek