How to get imagined social status:

1. Look up to an authoritarian shitheel
2. Imagine your love for them would be reciprocated in their love for you
3. Act like “I’m one of the good ones” and oppress people who are like you but don’t perfectly match up to the idealised figure of the authoritarian leader

Oppressing others is a win/win for people who enjoy pretending to important AND bullying others, and I can’t see it ever completely going out of style.