Authoritarianism does not need tanks in the streets.
It needs apathy. It needs people willing to shrug at racism, excuse bigotry, normalize corruption, and look away while power is consolidated into one man’s hands.
That is how democracies die — not in a single dramatic moment, but through steady erosion and cowardly silence.
When leaders attack judges, demonize minorities, undermine elections, and treat the Constitution as an obstacle instead of an oath, that is not politics as usual.
That is a warning siren.
If we accept it, if we rationalize it, if we tell ourselves “this is just how it is,” then we become participants in the dismantling of our own freedoms.
Dictatorships are not imposed solely by force — they are enabled by citizens who refuse to confront them.
Every attack on the rule of law, every effort to intimidate the press, every attempt to silence opposition is a test: will the public push back, or will it submit?
We must push back. Loudly. Relentlessly.
Through the ballot box. Through the courts.
Through peaceful protest.
Through organized resistance rooted in constitutional principles.
Because if we do nothing — if we allow fear, fatigue, or tribal loyalty to override democracy itself — then we will not be able to say we were overthrown.
Whew! Keep helping us discover who we are and who we are NOT, and the ways to live as free persons. I recently sent one of your essays to my state rep, and she responded with a very detailed and appreciative response. We currently have a bill to divest from Palantir. She is grateful for serious considerations. I will call her today and see how it’s going.
Brilliant essay...I remember reading Victor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning probably 3 decades ago and being inspired then...Thank you so much for inspiring me and reminding me as I sink into despair at least once a week, that I must decide who I want to be in this moment and act accordingly. It reminds me of the Bodhisattva vow, which some Buddhists make, which is to work to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings until the very last one has been enlightened. An impossibly tall order yes, but what an impeccable way to live...Thank you again... I will be printing this and putting it on my bulletin board as a daily form of encouragement...
Boy, this is so absolutely true, Christopher! I have not had one single successful response in this last 14 months of daily work. I was beginning to despair, until I realized my mindset wasn't properly fixed. I was measuring success by how much effect I was having on the world.....and it was none to little. But then I realized I had ANOTHER more important reason for doing thankless and unrewarded work. That reason changed everything for me. I am no longer thinking about what I achieve, but about what kind of person I want to be. Staying THAT course is never going to be swayed by some outside measurement.
This is phenomenal. I appreciate your distinction. What we learn from our environment can be unlearned and is open to change. Support, like how people moved the dogs legs is a way we can gift each other.
The truth that arises from within, our aligned sense of Self, brings action aligned with the life forward flow of the universe. In that alignment is a kind of magic, exponentially amplified by aligned actions made in the past and pulled forward by the dreams of those who come after us.
We are in this together. Together is much more than we will ever know.
Thank you once again Chris for showing us that we ALL have the power individually to make a difference. I love that you don’t just tell us what’s going on, but what our reactions and efforts should be.
This was another standing ovation. I’m writing a piece for the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program for high schoolers on nuclear proliferation (example below of others I’ve done), and my theme is “agency.” I will quote (and cite) this, so teens across the country feel it in their bones.
WOW! Loved this piece. It explains in words and by experiments that do reflect what many observe in other people as strange apathy and inertia. I'm copying it for my friends who may or may not be interested. I do what I can whenever I can and trust in unseen consequences happening or NOT.
I always try something to fight oppression, cruelty, abuse of power and authority. I know from over decades of this some things I wanted to happen have changed. I credit myself with that win though I was just a small cog in a movement. I accept risks and vow to survive consequences to maintain my "insides" and "attitudes" as my "last freedom."
The following quote is a nice complement to the article. Serendipitiously, the Quaker sharing group I belong to that meets on alternate Mondays, was using it as a seed for their thoughts.
"We need courage, not hope. Grief, after all, is the cost of being alive... Courage is the resolve to do well without the assurance of a happy ending. Little molecules, random in their movement, add together to a coherent whole". -- climate scientist Kate Marvel. The last line speaks of the power of "little actions", such as we saw in Minneapolis, such as what Christopher recommands vis-a=vis local politicians.
We need to be profoundly aware of this, and deliberate in empowering ourselves and each other.
"We cannot always control what happens, but we can widen that space, sit inside it, and choose the response that carries the least suffering and the most purpose. That gap between what hits us and what we do about it is where human freedom actually lives. Few ideas in psychology ask more of a person, and human beings tested this one under the most extreme conditions they ever created, and it held."
This melds very well with Adam Gopnik’s exploration of accomplishment - as opposed to achievement. Society values achievement highly - the prize, the gold/silver/bronze, the winner. Accomplishment involves learning something new; focus isn’t on the award at the end, but on getting better at something heretofore underdeveloped or undeveloped in your life. Gopnik chronicles accomplishment, and spends very little time on achievements.
I was in a discussion about art - visual art mostly - its value in $ and as accomplishment. The high prices of high-achievement art are inflated and driven by marketers.
I drew a comparison to professional sports, where high-achieving, high-$ value players are like the artworks sold for millions. Marketers again, complicated by legalization of sports gambling, which introduces into every transaction the possibility of corruption of the sport. Same in art, where the forged work is analogous to the thrown game.
Anyhow, this column was a great and stimulating one to read. Thanks.
Authoritarianism does not need tanks in the streets.
It needs apathy. It needs people willing to shrug at racism, excuse bigotry, normalize corruption, and look away while power is consolidated into one man’s hands.
That is how democracies die — not in a single dramatic moment, but through steady erosion and cowardly silence.
When leaders attack judges, demonize minorities, undermine elections, and treat the Constitution as an obstacle instead of an oath, that is not politics as usual.
That is a warning siren.
If we accept it, if we rationalize it, if we tell ourselves “this is just how it is,” then we become participants in the dismantling of our own freedoms.
Dictatorships are not imposed solely by force — they are enabled by citizens who refuse to confront them.
Every attack on the rule of law, every effort to intimidate the press, every attempt to silence opposition is a test: will the public push back, or will it submit?
We must push back. Loudly. Relentlessly.
Through the ballot box. Through the courts.
Through peaceful protest.
Through organized resistance rooted in constitutional principles.
Because if we do nothing — if we allow fear, fatigue, or tribal loyalty to override democracy itself — then we will not be able to say we were overthrown.
We will have handed it over.
Whew! Keep helping us discover who we are and who we are NOT, and the ways to live as free persons. I recently sent one of your essays to my state rep, and she responded with a very detailed and appreciative response. We currently have a bill to divest from Palantir. She is grateful for serious considerations. I will call her today and see how it’s going.
And thank you!🙏
I think next No Kings protest (3/28) I will carry a sign that says FIGHT FASCISM!! BE A VOTER!!!
How about END Fascism! 🤗
I like that….
I'm glad. I like to envision that day when we have won the fight, and our work is to pound it into rubble, and then into dust. Or somesuch imagery.
And BE A VOTER is 🎯
Brilliant essay...I remember reading Victor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning probably 3 decades ago and being inspired then...Thank you so much for inspiring me and reminding me as I sink into despair at least once a week, that I must decide who I want to be in this moment and act accordingly. It reminds me of the Bodhisattva vow, which some Buddhists make, which is to work to relieve the suffering of all sentient beings until the very last one has been enlightened. An impossibly tall order yes, but what an impeccable way to live...Thank you again... I will be printing this and putting it on my bulletin board as a daily form of encouragement...
Boy, this is so absolutely true, Christopher! I have not had one single successful response in this last 14 months of daily work. I was beginning to despair, until I realized my mindset wasn't properly fixed. I was measuring success by how much effect I was having on the world.....and it was none to little. But then I realized I had ANOTHER more important reason for doing thankless and unrewarded work. That reason changed everything for me. I am no longer thinking about what I achieve, but about what kind of person I want to be. Staying THAT course is never going to be swayed by some outside measurement.
Thank you for your commitment to our collective future, Joonbug 🌲🌲🌲
Thank you, Chris, for such a great lesson. It explains a lot.
This is phenomenal. I appreciate your distinction. What we learn from our environment can be unlearned and is open to change. Support, like how people moved the dogs legs is a way we can gift each other.
The truth that arises from within, our aligned sense of Self, brings action aligned with the life forward flow of the universe. In that alignment is a kind of magic, exponentially amplified by aligned actions made in the past and pulled forward by the dreams of those who come after us.
We are in this together. Together is much more than we will ever know.
Thank you once again Chris for showing us that we ALL have the power individually to make a difference. I love that you don’t just tell us what’s going on, but what our reactions and efforts should be.
This was another standing ovation. I’m writing a piece for the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions program for high schoolers on nuclear proliferation (example below of others I’ve done), and my theme is “agency.” I will quote (and cite) this, so teens across the country feel it in their bones.
https://fpa.org/great-decisions-high-school-ai-education/
https://fpa.org/great-decisions-high-school-the-future-of-korea/
I'm honored. Thanks for the work you're doing, Allison 🌲🌲🌲
Nice job! My entire undergraduate degree in 2000 words!!!
Authority weakens when citizens act like authors of the outcome.
Each choice puts pressure on the status quo.
Enough authors, and the story changes.
WOW! Loved this piece. It explains in words and by experiments that do reflect what many observe in other people as strange apathy and inertia. I'm copying it for my friends who may or may not be interested. I do what I can whenever I can and trust in unseen consequences happening or NOT.
I always try something to fight oppression, cruelty, abuse of power and authority. I know from over decades of this some things I wanted to happen have changed. I credit myself with that win though I was just a small cog in a movement. I accept risks and vow to survive consequences to maintain my "insides" and "attitudes" as my "last freedom."
You're doing an awesome job, Becca 🌲🌲🌲
The following quote is a nice complement to the article. Serendipitiously, the Quaker sharing group I belong to that meets on alternate Mondays, was using it as a seed for their thoughts.
"We need courage, not hope. Grief, after all, is the cost of being alive... Courage is the resolve to do well without the assurance of a happy ending. Little molecules, random in their movement, add together to a coherent whole". -- climate scientist Kate Marvel. The last line speaks of the power of "little actions", such as we saw in Minneapolis, such as what Christopher recommands vis-a=vis local politicians.
Very nice! Thank you for that!
Fantastic piece. Very helpful.
We need to be profoundly aware of this, and deliberate in empowering ourselves and each other.
"We cannot always control what happens, but we can widen that space, sit inside it, and choose the response that carries the least suffering and the most purpose. That gap between what hits us and what we do about it is where human freedom actually lives. Few ideas in psychology ask more of a person, and human beings tested this one under the most extreme conditions they ever created, and it held."
This melds very well with Adam Gopnik’s exploration of accomplishment - as opposed to achievement. Society values achievement highly - the prize, the gold/silver/bronze, the winner. Accomplishment involves learning something new; focus isn’t on the award at the end, but on getting better at something heretofore underdeveloped or undeveloped in your life. Gopnik chronicles accomplishment, and spends very little time on achievements.
I was in a discussion about art - visual art mostly - its value in $ and as accomplishment. The high prices of high-achievement art are inflated and driven by marketers.
I drew a comparison to professional sports, where high-achieving, high-$ value players are like the artworks sold for millions. Marketers again, complicated by legalization of sports gambling, which introduces into every transaction the possibility of corruption of the sport. Same in art, where the forged work is analogous to the thrown game.
Anyhow, this column was a great and stimulating one to read. Thanks.