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/
- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/08/on-tyranny-timothy-snyder-review-trump-twenty-lessons-democracy
Further Reading
Suggest that folks read Timothy Snyder's book as a companion to Masha's book.
Snyder's list:
- Resist (Do Not Obey in Advance) Tyranny
- Defend Democratic and Republican Institutions (Free Press, Courts, etc...)
- Beware the One Party State
- Be skeptical about Propaganda (take responsibility for the face of the world)
- Final advice is to keep one's center
- 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
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