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1) HOW TO RESIST
Go out and buy this book now. It's a handy short field manual on what to watch for an how to counter would be dictators. This thread is the chapter snippets from this book.
Go out and buy this book now. It's a handy short field manual on what to watch for an how to counter would be dictators. This thread is the chapter snippets from this book.
2) DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In dark times, people think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In dark times, people think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
3) DEFEND INSTITUTIONS
Institutions help preserve decency. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one by one unless each is defended from the beginning. Chose one or more you care about-the press, the law, a labor union, etc and defend it fiercely.
Institutions help preserve decency. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one by one unless each is defended from the beginning. Chose one or more you care about-the press, the law, a labor union, etc and defend it fiercely.
4) BEWARE THE 1 PARTY STATE
The parties that remade states were not powerful from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life hard for opponents. Support the multi-party system, defend the rules of free elections, vote in every election while you can.
The parties that remade states were not powerful from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life hard for opponents. Support the multi-party system, defend the rules of free elections, vote in every election while you can.
5) TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FACE OF THE WORLD
The symbols of today enable the realities of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get use to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so. Do not normalize hate.
The symbols of today enable the realities of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get use to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so. Do not normalize hate.
6) REMEMBER PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
It is hard to subvert a rule of law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obediant civil servants and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.
It is hard to subvert a rule of law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obediant civil servants and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.
7) BE WARY OF PARAMILITARIES
When the men with guns who claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle the end has come.
When the men with guns who claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle the end has come.
8) BE REFLECTIVE IF YOU MUST BE ARMED
If you carry a weapon in service we thank you. But know that evils of the past involved policeman and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Like separating children from families. Be ready to say no.
If you carry a weapon in service we thank you. But know that evils of the past involved policeman and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Like separating children from families. Be ready to say no.
9) STAND OUT
Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.
10) BE KIND TO OUR LANGUAGE
Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does (talking points). Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone else is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the Internet. Read books.
Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does (talking points). Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone else is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the Internet. Read books.
11) BELIEVE IN TRUTH
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis on which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis on which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.
12) INVESTIGATE
Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda. Be careful what you communicate to others.
Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda. Be careful what you communicate to others.
13) MAKE EYE CONTACT AND SMALL TALK
It's a way to stay in touch with your surroundings. Break down social barriers and understand whom you should and shouldn't trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
It's a way to stay in touch with your surroundings. Break down social barriers and understand whom you should and shouldn't trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.
14) PRACTICE CORPOREAL POLITICS
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people, like rallies, town halls, and protest marches. Make new friends and march with them.
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people, like rallies, town halls, and protest marches. Make new friends and march with them.
15) ESTABLISH A PRIVATE LIFE
Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Sanitize your digital foot print as much as possible. Use VPNs and encrypted email. Resolve any legal issues. Tyrants seek a hook to hang you. Try not to have hooks.
Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Sanitize your digital foot print as much as possible. Use VPNs and encrypted email. Resolve any legal issues. Tyrants seek a hook to hang you. Try not to have hooks.
16) CONTRIBUTE TO GOOD CAUSES
Be active in organizations, political or not that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a fee choice that supports a civil society and helps others do good.
Be active in organizations, political or not that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a fee choice that supports a civil society and helps others do good.
17) LEARN FROM PEERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
Keep up friendships abroad or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the US are an element of a larger trend. No country is going to find a solution itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
Keep up friendships abroad or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the US are an element of a larger trend. No country is going to find a solution itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.
18) LISTEN FOR DANGEROUS WORDS
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
