One major difference between democracy and ultra-Orthodoxy (authoritarianism) is that the former was built to work even when leaders are self-serving, duplicitous, and often stupid; the latter only works when the leaders are actually wise, which is a rare thing. https://twitter.com/OMTorah/status/1245988723801624576

Why is it rare? Because people tend to get what they really love. Those who love wisdom get it. Those who love money get it. Those who love power get it.

And when it comes to rabbis, the only way to know if your rabbi is actually wise is to dedicate yourself to wisdom. But ultra-Orthodoxy like other forms of authoritarianism dissuades and rejects wisdom for individuals, since it threatens their power.

So there is no point in trying to convince an Ultra-Orthodox Jew about pikuach Nefesh. He is not interested in halachic argument. He is interest in the approval or disapproval of the rabbi.

Each of these things can be exchanged for each of the others. But the core dynamic is that most people who have one of those things has it because he loves it. Most leaders begin with a love of power. Sometimes they also have money or wisdom. But there’s no necessary correlation

People grow up not only told to avoid the dangers of worldly wisdom but even Halacha stops being an independent form of wisdom and is instead subordinates to immediate rabbinic authority.