I had an interesting hour long conversation with my brother, an Associate Professor of History at BU (who has spent a good part of his life studying democratic grass-roots movements), this morning (FB post and comments below)…
I won’t bore you with the entire subject matter (I’m sure you can imagine), but where we left it was…
When is enough, enough? When has it gone too far… and WHEN do we step up in the true “action of resistance”?
When is it too soon, for most (perhaps always until it’s too late), to sustain the risk of doing so, and when does it become too late to make a difference without the true and real risk of losing our humanity and freedom.
➡️ Are We Sleepwalking Into Autocracy? ⬅️
We don’t have the answer.
P.S. Also realizing the strength and resolve of the True Heroes throughout history (many in South America who my brother has studied and written about) who gave their lives, or truly risked them, for similar causes around the world.
“We Are Watching America Capitulate To Trump… the voluntary surrender of the public’s power is how autocracies are built.”
“All I know is that it was, apparently, possible to maintain a sense of facts and values — not only not to obey in advance but not to obey at all… if that was possible in the Soviet Union half a century ago, then it is certainly possible in the United States today.” ~Masha Gessen
*DON’T KID YOURSELF, IT CAN HAPPEN HERE…
On the 28 February 1933, President Hindenburg signed the Emergency Decree for the Protection of the German People. This decree suspended the democratic aspects of the Weimar Republic and declared a state of emergency.
This decree gave the Nazis a legal basis for the persecution and oppression of any opponents, who were be framed as traitors to the republic. People could be imprisoned for any or no reason. The decree also removed basic personal freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, the right to own property, and the right to trial before imprisonment. Through these aspects the Nazis suppressed any opposition to their power, and were able to start the road from democracy to a dictatorship.