The shift toward authoritarianism often unfolds through a series of small and seemingly trivial steps that become consequential once social pressures push citizens to fall in line. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2026/01/02/world/democracies-learning-to-goose-step/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #commentary #worldnews #democracy #hitler #nazi #authoritarianism #viktororban #receptayyiperdogan #nicolaeceausescu #us #donaldtrump #farright

"Put not your trust in pundits, or prophets, John Fetterman, or the op-ed pages of The New York Times. Declare your independence from convention. To use Lincoln's magnificent verb, disenthrall yourselves. Then you can save your country."

~ Charles Pierce

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump #solidarity #resistance
/7

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a69888654/kitchen-table-issues-american-healing/

"Put not your trust in pundits, or prophets, John Fetterman, or the op-ed pages of The New York Times. Declare your independence from convention. To use Lincoln's magnificent verb, disenthrall yourselves. Then you can save your country."

~ Charles Pierce

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump #solidarity #resistance
/7

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a69888654/kitchen-table-issues-american-healing/

"What has happened at the Kennedy Center is that artists have exercised their power to not cooperate. Governors and mayors and the state and city workers under them have likewise declined to cooperate in 2025. So have all sorts of people in all sorts of places and situations. As Patti Smith famously sang, 'People Have the Power.' Not always, not everywhere, but sometimes, when we take it."

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump #KennedyCenter #solidarity #resistance
/5

"Trump now largely controls the building – but he doesn't own the arts or the artists or the audience. ...

I opened one of my first newsletters after launching Meditations in an Emergency February 2nd with these words: 'I can sum up the Trump/Musk/Vance theory of power in five words: "We have power; you don't."' Except we do, and we have used it ferociously, creatively, devotedly, bravely this year."

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump #KennedyCenter #solidarity #resistance
/4

Always hopeful, Rebecca Solnit finds hope in the demonstrated ability of many Americans in the last year to band together and resist in manifold and creative ways — e.g., what's happening with the Kennedy Center:

"Trump perceived the center as in essence an object he could grab, and in some ways it was – and in other ways it wasn't."

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump #KennedyCenter #solidarity #resistance
/3

https://www.meditationsinanemergency.com/people-still-have-some-of-the-power-looking-forward-to-2026/

But, Zimmer asserts, "merely restoring the pre-Trump status quo won’t work" if democracy is to be restored in the US. "The country needs a democratic transformation."

It needs, in other words, to face the significant ways in which, while claiming to have democratic aspirations, it has historically not had democratic practices, allocating rights and power along lines of class, gender, and race.

#democracy #authoritarianism #Trump
/2

You might think it's not a priority with all the doom happening around.

But the erosion of privacy rights is directly linked to the erosion of human rights, and the loss of democracy.

Privacy makes it safe for you to discuss, to organize, to resist, and to be your true self. This is exactly why fascists and authoritarians are attacking it.

If we lose privacy, we lose everything else. We have to defend it with all we've got.

Privacy rights are a priority.

#Privacy #HumanRights #Democracy

This is a perfect mataphor.

#Trump #TrumpIsGuilty #TrumpIsUnfit #TrumpEpsteinFiles #TrumpIsAFelon #USPolitics #Democracy

Lottocracy: Democracy Without Elections

https://www.lottocracy.org

#HackerNews #Lottocracy #Democracy #Elections #Politics #Innovation

This is a very long watch, but still worth it.

Zoe Baker: *Myths About Anarchism, Democracy, and Decision-Making*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-TueoyeOY

#anarchism #democracy

An interview I gave to Euronews six years ago. Interview is in English with Turkish subtitles.

You decide how it has aged.

https://tr.euronews.com/2019/03/08/teknoloji-sirketleri-insan-varligini-tehdit-ediyor-dijital-haklar-aktivisti-aral-balkan

#BigTech #SiliconValley #PeopleFarming #fascism #SmallTech #tech #HumanRights #democracy #peerocracy

Why the Internet Is Bad for Democracy (2005)

https://dl.acm.org/doi/epdf/10.1145/1089107.1089138

#HackerNews #Internet #and #Democracy #Internet #Critique #2005 #Article #Tech #and #Society #Online #Discourse

Monsters do exist.

#Progressivism #Liberalism #Equality #Democracy #USPoltics #Education #Healthcare

Monsters do exist.

#Progressivism #Liberalism #Equality #Democracy #USPoltics #Education #Healthcare

A new study indicates that democratic support in China is driven by "perceived material well-being" rather than procedural values like competitive elections. Young people, who prioritize tangible economic results but report lower life satisfaction, tend to reject liberal democratic norms, valuing material outcomes over political processes.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3335861/chinas-post-materialist-generation-says-no-liberal-democracy-confounds-west

#china #democracy #politics

#introduction I am new here. My brother @jaforbes tells me it is customary to do an opening post of things I find interesting or likely to discuss in the future. Here is my list: #democracy #ai #eng #engineering #osint #geopol #math #mathematics #humanrights #compsci #history #philosophy #space #australia #japan #bluemountains #science #tech #anu #unsw #uts #physics #uai #agi #nafo #peace #ukraine #taiwan #photography #tdd #andor. I have friends everywhere. I hope that you'll join me.