Author Topic: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism  (Read 5942 times)

Livingthedream55

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20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« on: January 30, 2017, 12:48:57 PM »
20 Ways to Fight Fascism
by
Timothy Snyder, Housum Professor of History, Yale University, 15 November 2016

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.

1. Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You've already done this, haven't you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

2. Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don't protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.

3. Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.

4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Look out for the expansive use of "terrorism" and "extremism." Be alive to the fatal notions of "exception" and "emergency." Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don't fall for it.

6. Be kind to our language. Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don't use the internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps "The Power of the Powerless" by Václav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.

7. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

8. 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 upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

9. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate foreign propaganda pushes.

10. 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. Make new friends and march with them.

11. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

12. Take responsibility for the face of the world. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

13. Hinder the one-party state. The parties that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and state elections while you can.

14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can. Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.

15. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.

16. Learn from others in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties here are an element of a general trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

17. Watch out for the paramilitaries. When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.

18. Be reflective if you must be armed. If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)
 
19. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.

20. Be a patriot. The incoming president is not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.


Sailor Sam

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2017, 12:56:41 PM »
Good stuff. Thank you.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2017, 01:05:37 PM »
Love it. Thank you for posting it.

Here was my version: https://financialtipsforthebroke.com/2016/11/10/10-ways-to-rise-re-trump/

DinaHaines

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2017, 11:49:36 PM »
Good Content

EricL

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2017, 12:03:32 AM »
Nice. Though strangely undercut by using the term "unfreedom". What is wrong with "authoritarianism?"  Or straight up "tyranny?"

Livingthedream55

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2017, 08:00:36 AM »

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2017, 09:24:26 AM »
:)))))  Thank you!!

Just Joe

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #7 on: February 06, 2017, 09:13:59 AM »
Line #15: on the subject of malware:

If you notice your computer slowing down and regularly being corrupted by malware may I make the suggestion that you consider dual booting with free Mint Linux.

I would not be surprised if there were active efforts by state players to corrupt MS Windows so people's activities can be monitored easily.

Mint Linux (one of many flavors of Linux) replaces Windows or Apple iOS. You can have both Linux and Windows on the same computer in many different forms.

Dual booting divides your hard drive into partitions (sections) so that when you switch your computer on, it asks which OS you want to use. It can also be set to default to one of the OS's after a delay of your choice.

Alternatively you can use free VirtualBox to run Linux as a virtual machine inside Windows if your computer is reasonably fast. When you want to use the web and be protected from malware - start Windows as normal, once booted then start Linux inside Windows (functions as a program more or less). Use Linux. Avoid Windows connections to the web.

You can also do this the other way - Windows inside Mint Linux via Virtualbox. Startup Mint Linux and run Windows as a program inside of Linux. Windows will remain vulnerable to hacking but with this method you rely on Linux for the 99.9% of things that we use a computer for and the last .01% that you can't get to function correctly in Linux - you fire up the Windows virtual machine and get those few tasks done. Think iTunes and MS Office. When you are done, you hibernate Windows and go back to using Mint Linux. Adapt what you do to make more use of FOSS software and avoid solutions like MS Office and iTunes. Just my opinion.

Another option - PortableApps. Instead of creating a thumbdrive install, just put everything into a folder on your desktop. You can somewhat sandbox your software this way. Its a weak sandbox though. If you ever need to bail on that piece of software - just delete the folder and the programs you were using will not have corrupted your computer's registry b/c they don't install themselves to your computer in the same way as normal software. This is a great way to begin a migration to FOSS software on a Windows machine.

Mint Linux (aka Ubuntu) and all its cousins offer hundreds and thousands of programs for free that do the very same things that you do in Windows. Firefox, Chrome, Vivaldi browser, Google Drive, Libreoffice, etc. In short I can AFFORD to do more with my computer using FOSS.

No malware in Linux. Nobody looking over your shoulder. Linux was borne out of the idea that software should be free and available to everyone. That you should be allowed to do whatever you want to with your computer and your software. There is clearly a learning curve but I have helped people from 8 to 80 use Mint Linux with success. The eight year old was my youngest child and they took to it like a pro. The 80 year olds are some friends who are active in grassroots efforts in our area and were under attack by SPAM and other kinds of malware. Don't know if it was targeting them specifically but switching to Linux stopped all of those problems. The SPAM remains but the payloads are harmless now.

Anyone who wants software guidance - please PM me.

Neal300

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2017, 07:16:47 AM »
Yes, I got it.Thanks for this great job.I appreciate it.

GuitarStv

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2017, 11:00:29 AM »
Ummm . . . Weird first sentence.  Democracy is a political system.  Communism is an economic system.  They're not mutually exclusive.  There's nothing to prevent a democratic communist society from existing.  How did a history professor not know this?

EricL

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2017, 10:25:22 PM »
Ummm . . . Weird first sentence.  Democracy is a political system.  Communism is an economic system.  They're not mutually exclusive.  There's nothing to prevent a democratic communist society from existing.  How did a history professor not know this?

Maybe because there's not much in the way of a precedent?  There's nothing to prevent a fascist state from being run by tyrants.  Not much precedent for that either. 

Mac_MacGyver

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #11 on: August 25, 2017, 06:14:58 PM »
Where is all this tyranny you all speak of?

Bracken_Joy

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #12 on: August 25, 2017, 07:51:00 PM »
Really appreciated this.

GenXbiker

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #13 on: August 25, 2017, 08:49:07 PM »
Mehhhh....

marty998

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2018, 05:27:17 AM »
Anyone else notice that there seems to be some malfunctioning bots on here....


You give the very important suggestions and people should have to think about that.

Yes, I got it.Thanks for this great job.I appreciate it.

You give the vital recommendations and individuals ought to need to consider that.


Wayward

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #15 on: February 26, 2018, 10:38:48 AM »
Thank you for this!

PKFFW

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Re: 20 Ways to Fight Fascism
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2018, 02:50:41 PM »
Ummm . . . Weird first sentence.  Democracy is a political system.  Communism is an economic system.  They're not mutually exclusive.  There's nothing to prevent a democratic communist society from existing.  How did a history professor not know this?
It always surprises me how many people don't seem to realise this.  I have a friend who has completed a masters of political science and he constantly refers to communism as a political system.

Personally I think the world will eventually quite naturally move towards a more democratic communist model.  It will probably take another few hundred years or even longer though.