"The more authoritarian a social regime is, the more insistently it will simplify the possible responses—always converging on thumbs up or thumbs down—and demand the correct one. I don’t think we live in a totalitarian, or even an authoritarian regime—not even close—but in any given culture there are always authoritarian subcultures, and we have more … Continue reading Refuse That Final Word
Tag: authoritarianism
Defining the West
"The biggest surprise for Putin, of course, was the West. All the nonsense about how the West is decadent, the West is over, the West is in decline, how it’s a multipolar world and the rise of China, et cetera: all of that turned out to be bunk......The West is a series of institutions and … Continue reading Defining the West
The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
"Experts in authoritarianism advise keeping a list of things changing, subtly, around you, so you’ll remember. Days after the 2016 presidential election, I started a list. Each week, I chronicle the ways Donald Trump has changed our country. This selection, adapted from more than 34,000 entries — or about 1 percent of the total — … Continue reading The Road Map Back From Authoritarianism
Salafistes
"Salafistes is, from start to finish, a gruesome film. Originally shot in Timbuktu after the town fell under jihadist control in 2012, the documentary takes place over the course of four years—first, with live footage of life under Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali; later, using propaganda videos from the Islamic State in … Continue reading Salafistes
Liberalism is the Incubator of Authoritarianisms
"'Are you against the ‘liberal order’ which guaranteed peace and stability, and other wonderful things for so long?' The obvious answer is that your much-cherished liberal order was the incubator for Trumpism and other authoritarianisms. It made human beings subordinate to the market, replacing social bonds with market relations and sanctifying greed. It propagated an … Continue reading Liberalism is the Incubator of Authoritarianisms
Fuck Authority – Pennywise
My Affair With the Intellectual Dark Web – Great Escape – Medium
"If the idea is that I piss people off by being disloyal to my likely tribes, well, I don’t think that makes me unusual. I think it just makes me a good intellectual." —Alice Dreger quoted in Meghan Daum. "My Affair With the Intellectual Dark Web." Medium. August 24, 2018. Easy test to see if … Continue reading My Affair With the Intellectual Dark Web – Great Escape – Medium
Politics as Cult
"...members of "totalistic" cults—those that consider their ideology the one true path—share four key characteristics. They 1) espouse an all-encompassing belief system; 2) exhibit excessive devotion to the leader; 3) avoid criticism of the group and its leader; and 4) feel disdain for non-members." —Tom Jacobs. "A Cult Expert Finds Familiar Patterns of Behavior in … Continue reading Politics as Cult
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