Recommended Reading: Living Under Authoritarianism
Recommended Reading: Living Under Authoritarianism
This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack: Elad Nehorai, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Jim Wallis, Parker Molloy, Michael Ian Black, and Ari Drennen
This Week's Recommended Reading on Substack:
writes that “it is not enough to simply protest. And despite what the leaders of these movements often try to tell their participants, for many this alone is the contribution one must make. Yet democracy is about decentralization: we are supposed to each contribute to a larger cause in the way we are most empowered to do so. We also still think in an old, borders-based, nationalist style while authoritarians are learning to network and work together across borders.”
Ruth Ben-Ghiat writes that “most of us can easily conjure pictures of the regimes of the interwar and World War Two years. Uniformed men on the march, children performing in sports arenas, and the dictator in his uniform likely figure in this repertoire. Yet there are other ways of visualizing fascism, such as focusing in on the anonymous ‘faces in the crowd’ that populate so many fascist photographs and moving images. While we cannot know what ordinary people were thinking, these faces deserve our attention. They can remind us of what these regimes most feared and what the Leader could never fully control: the humanity and agency of the individual.”
writes that “the utter hypocrisy of attacking the sexual morality of Bill Clinton and ignoring or even excusing that serial immorality of Donald Trump in his personal, sexual, family, business, and political life is so blatant that it undermines the morality and character of pro-Trump white evangelicals – both leaders and followers.”
writes that “Cutting back on Pride merchandise isn’t just a business decision; it’s a signal. It tells anti-LGBTQ activists that their bullying tactics work. It tells LGBTQ customers that their visibility is negotiable. And it sets a dangerous precedent: that appeasement is a viable strategy in the face of aggressive bigotry. So, what’s the takeaway here? Target’s decision may temporarily quiet some critics, but it’s unlikely to stop the wave of anti-LGBTQ activism. If anything, it may embolden these groups to push harder, knowing that even a major retailer can be swayed by their tactics.”
writes that “Critics viewed the initial rightward pivot as a way for the ‘canceled’ comedian to survive the charges against him. After all, such charges did nothing to reduce support among Trump fans or others on the right who were accused of similar crimes. Maybe the same would work for Brand if he laid it on thick enough? Now, with his recent baptism video, Brand has laid it on as about thick as it can get.”
writes that “following the news can feel like a way to take control in a world that’s spinning out of it, but it isn’t. Often it becomes an addiction to staring into the blank future in front of us. It’s better to know that you’ll be ready to face what today throws at you than to waste all your time worrying about tomorrow.”
