Category: Media
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11 Investigate
No comments on 11 InvestigateI’m quite aware that not everyone can figure out everything. Lack of resources, information and time are real limits. But it’s smart to check a link or watch the video before passing it on. If you can support journalism via subscription or donation, do so. We know many media outlets are biased. A local TV is owned by Sinclair, so I’ve stopped linking to it. I link…
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10 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. – From On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 65) by Timothy Snyder. Facts matter. Truth matters. Authoritarians lie both to…
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9 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. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books – From On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 59) by Timothy Snyder. Snyder starts this chapter noting how “Hitler’s language rejected legitimate opposition”. Hitler would say “people”…
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8 Stand out
When Winston Churchill became prime minister in May 1940, Great Britain was alone. The British had won no meaningful battles and had no important allies. They had entered the war to support Poland, a cause that seemed lost. Nazi Germany and its Soviet ally dominated the continent. The Soviet Union had invaded Finland in November 1939, beginning with a bombing of Helsinki. Right after Churchill assumed office,…
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7 Be reflective if you must be armed
If you carry a weapon in public service, may 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. – From On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 47) by Timothy Snyder Many of the deaths committed by the Nazis involved the SS and other forces…
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Writing postcards
I’m writing postcards today (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) using a tested “make a plan to vote” message. The organization I signed up with provided a list of addresses, postcards, and instructions; I’m providing stamps and labor. Other people volunteer by knocking on doors or calling or what-have-you. This is what I’m doing.
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6 Be wary of paramilitaries
When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come. From On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 42) by Timothy Snyder. The obvious example is the Nazi SS, but…
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5 Remember professional ethics
When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor. From On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 38) by Timothy Snyder. Snyder points out that Hitler often…
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4 Take responsibility for the face of the world
You might one day be offered the opportunity to display symbols of loyalty. Make sure that such symbols include your fellow citizens rather than exclude them. Even the history of lapel pins is far from innocent. In Nazi Germany in 1933, people wore lapel pins that said “Yes” during the elections and referendum that confirmed the one-party state. In Austria in 1938, people who had not previously…
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2: Defend Institutions
“[C]hoose an institution you care about—a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union—and take its side.” – from Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 22). The reasoned, learned people running the non-Nazi newspapers in Germany did not believe that the Nazis would really close down non-Nazi media, or change the law to remove rights from non-Nazi citizens, or other such…
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1: Do not obey in advance.
From Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (p. 17). In early 1938, Adolf Hitler, by then securely in power in Germany, was threatening to annex neighboring Austria. After the Austrian chancellor conceded, it was the Austrians’ anticipatory obedience that decided the fate of Austrian Jews. Local Austrian Nazis captured Jews and forced them to scrub the streets to remove symbols of independent…
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On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
This is a small book containing information that’s both obvious and – at times – surprising. I’ve been meaning to post about it and failing. I bribed myself to try again by … getting the ebook from the library, because I can cut-and-paste from the ebook easier than paper. So expect to see some posts in this vein coming up. If you find it interesting, I’d recommend…
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Reading Recommendations
Short things by Naomi Kritzer: Better Living Through Algorithms – just won Best Short Story Hugo Award The Year Without Sunshine – just won Best Novelette Hugo Award Recent books: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older, and the sequel, The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles The Infomacracy series by Malka Older. Life Beyond Us – an anthology that combines speculative short stories with essays by actual…
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Biden wants US voters to remember Trump said to inject bleach
Remember? “Four years ago this week, President Donald Trump suggested that Americans might want to inject disinfectant into their bodies to treat the coronavirus. The Biden campaign is intent on making sure nobody forgets it.” Good for them!
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Treadmill listening
Today’s treadmill listening was season 4, episode 1 of “How We Survive” on water sourcing in Arizona. Then I switched to episodes 1028-1030 of “Make Me Smart.”
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Madame Restell
If you haven’t seen the quotes I posted on tumblr, I’ve just finished reading Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright. My overall impression is that the title could have been Madame Restell: Her Life and Times to make it clear that the narrative includes social history that affected Restell’s choices. For example, the…
Living ~400lbs 