Rules for Survival -- Masha Gessen

Masha Gessen is warning people that we need to follow 6 basic rules if we want to survive the totalitarian regime that is installing itself in our country:

In My own Words

 

1. Autocrats Mean their Nasty Business

2. Appearances of Normality are a Trap

3. The establishment can't save Us

4. Outrage is necessary - They will Gaslight!

5. Compromise only fails with authoritarians.

6. This too will pass (maybe). Tyrants fail.

Six Rules For Survival

Masha Gessen outlines six rules to consider (as reported in Daily Kos):

Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says. Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, that is our innate tendency to reach for a rationalization. This will happen often: humans seem to have evolved to practice denial when confronted publicly with the unacceptable.

Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.

Rule #3: Institutions will not save you.

Rule #4: Be outraged. If you follow Rule #1 and believe what the autocrat-elect is saying, you will not be surprised. But in the face of the impulse to normalize, it is essential to maintain one’s capacity for shock. This will lead people to call you unreasonable and hysterical, and to accuse you of overreacting. It is no fun to be the only hysterical person in the room. Prepare yourself.

Rule #5: Don’t make compromises. Like Ted Cruz, who made the journey from calling Trump “utterly amoral” and a “pathological liar” to endorsing him in late September to praising his win as an “amazing victory for the American worker,” Republican politicians have fallen into line.

Rule #6: Remember the future. Nothing lasts forever. Donald Trump certainly will not, and Trumpism, to the extent that it is centered on Trump’s persona, will not either.

We all encourage you to read her full article, www.nybooks.com/… Masha Gessen has more good articles relating to the Trump, Russia, Putin stories too. And she tweets: @mashagessen

Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/12/1597457/-Autocracy-Rules-for-Survival-by-Masha-Gessen

http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/

Further Reading

Suggest that folks read Timothy Snyder's book as a companion to Masha's book.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/08/on-tyranny-timothy-snyder-review-trump-twenty-lessons-democracy

Snyder's list:

1. Resist (Do Not Obey in Advance) Tyranny
2. Defend Democratic and Republican Institutions (Free Press, Courts, etc...)
3. Beware the One Party State
4. Be skeptical about Propaganda (take responsibility for the face of the world)
5. Final advice is to keep one's center
6. Get a Copy: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

Related Posts:

Altemeyer "The Authoritarians"

Reviewing Altemeyer: http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/01/authoritarians-and-totalitarians.html

Understanding Social Dominance Theory

Viciousness Opression and Bullying

Trump and Social Dominance:

EMAD Trump: http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/11/emad-trump-why-wheels-wont-come-off-in.html

http://holtesthoughts.blogspot.com/2017/01/trump-and-narcissist-flying-monkey.html

The Power of Doublespeak

Trump's Totalitarian Movement and Totalitarian Propaganda

Trump Dumps Lee Atwater's Advice