“Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality. [….] …history has seen many catastrophes, and most of them unfolded over time. That time included periods of relative calm. [….]”
– Autocracy: Rules for Survival – Masha Gessen – November 10, 2016.

Last month, from a re-posted review of Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts:

10 Lessons from a Dark Past
[….]

David Pepper
Nov 19, 2024

[….]

1) Do not allow increasingly vile and inhumane—and violent—rhetoric and ideas to become normalized. Call them out (for example—thank you to those who immediately marched in response to the neo-Nazi march in Columbus! Do that every time.

2)Do not allow everyday acts of violence to become normalized;

3) Do not dismiss the most bizarre, ostentatious and odd happenings as too outlandish and irrelevant to be taken seriously;

4) Do not dismiss those engaged in vile and disturbing rhetoric as mere clowns or buffoons who could never carry out the things they are so clearly indicating they will do (their forebears were dismissed in just that way in the 1930s); these are people who are now in the fold of power; they can and will do exactly as they say if given the means and space to do it;

5) Do not diminish those who are raising alarm bells by scolding them that they are hurting the cause—do not believe that if only they dialed it back, then the troubling behavior they are describing will somehow go away. History shows that the opposite is true;

6) Stand loudly against any proposals and approaches to consolidate power and eliminate checks and balances that upend long-accepted principles of justice and effective, fair government;

7) For those in the same party as those who just took over, or business leaders or journalists or others, who decide to go along with the program, either out of fear or greed or assuming you can ultimately control those leaders; or betting that you will fare better by muting criticisms as opposed to airing them loudly and clearly…know that did NOT work. History is painfully clear about that. In fact, you are often the first targets of retribution.

8) The biggest mistakes made by both foreign governments and domestic politicians was NOT taking the most dire threats seriously. Not imagining that worse could happen. Not unifying to stand against every step. Over and over, contemporaries (including those with power) assumed the worst had already happened. It hadn’t. And their passivity was a green light—inviting only more.

9) When people who used to be within the inner circle warn the rest of us how bad it is, and how bad it may become, amplify them as best you can; welcome their voices even if there are differences.

10) Similarly, continue to call upon those with influence in the party in power to stop going along with it. And…if/when any Republican Senators and others DO stand up to Trump’s actions, thank them. Lift them. We need them to keep doing so, so we better encourage that good behavior before and after it happens. There will be few, but every dissenting voice matters.

[….]

#resist

Previously:

The resistance (December 18, 2016)

Sanewashing on the road to normalcy (November 8, 2024)

Practical Dissent: Protest Signs (November 17, 2024)

Practical Dissent: Just Do It (November 19, 2024)

Practical Dissent: it’s the weather, and a lot more (November 21, 2024)

Practical Dissent: planting seeds (November 26, 2024)

Practical Dissent: One (November 27, 2024)

Practical Dissent: testing, testing… (November 28, 2024)