#beware of paramilitaries

[spiderpanic]

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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most governments, most of the time, seek to monopolize violence. If only the government can legitimately use force, and this use is constrained by law, then the forms of politics that we take for granted become possible. It is impossible to carry out domestic elections, try cases at court, design and enforce laws, or indeed manage any of the other quiet businesses of government when agencies beyond the state also have access to violence. For just this reason, people and parties who wish to undermine democracy and the rule of law create and fund violent organizations that involve themselves in politics. Such groups can take the form of a paramilitary wing of a political party, The personal bodyguard of a particular politician -or apparently spontaneous citizens initiatives, which usually turn out to have been organized by a party or its leader.

Armed groups first degrade a political order, and then transform it. Violent right-wing groups, such as the Iron Guard an interwar Romania or the Arrow Cross in interwar Hungary, intimidated their rivals. Nazi stormtroopers began as a security detail clearing the halls of Hitler's opponents during his rallies. As paramilitaries known as the SA and the SS, they created a climate of fear that helped the Nazi party in the parliamentary elections of 1932 and 1933. In Austria in 1938 it was the local SA that quickly took advantage of the absence of the usual local authority to loot, beat, and humiliate the Jews, thereby changing the rules of politics and preparing the way for the Nazi takeover of the country. It was the SS that ran the German concentration camps -lawless zones where ordinary rules did not apply. During the second world war, the SS extended the lawlessness it had pioneered in the camps to hold European countries under German occupation. The SS began as an organization outside the law, became an organization that transcended the law, and ended up as an organization that undid the law.

Because the American Federal government uses mercenaries in warfare and American state governments pay corporations to run prisons and internment camps, the use of violence in the United States is already highly privatized. What was novel in 2016 was a candidate who ordered a private security detail to clear opponents from rallies and encouraged the audience itself to remove people who expressed different opinions. A protester would first be greeted with boos then with frenetic cries of "USA," And then be forced to leave the rally. At one campaign rally the candidate said, " there's a remnant left over. Maybe get the remnant out. Get the remnant out." The crowd, taking its cue, then tried to root out other people who might be dissenters, all the while crying "USA." The candidate interjected: "isn't this more fun than a regular boring rally? To me, it's fun." This kind of mob violence was meant to transform the political atmosphere, and it did. When the candidate lost the next election, he tried to falsify its results while his followers attacked our Capitol. Had that coup succeeded, our constitutional system would be no more.

For violence to transform not just the atmosphere but also the system, the emotions of rallies and insurrections and the ideology of exclusion have to be incorporated into the training of armed guards. These first challenge the police and military, then penetrate the police and military, and finally transform the police and military.

-On Tyranny (Timothy Snyder)

[booksinmythorax]

On Tyranny & Tumblr #1: Do not obey in advance

Like a lot of people, I've been reading Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny in the wake of the 2024 US election results. It's a good book, and a short book, and a book that's probably available in your library. I encourage you to read it for yourself.

There's a lot of panic happening and a lot of desire for action. I think if you're looking for ways to fight real-life tyranny, there's actually a little bit you can do online too.

Snyder's first lesson derived from the stories of 20th century authoritarian governments is "Do not obey in advance":

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.

Some ways we can apply this in our online lives:

-If you create content - fan content or original, written works, visual art, cosplay, photos - and you're worried it might be targeted by the US government in the future, don't take it down yet. Don't orphan them on AO3 yet. Keep it up and keep creating.

-If you financially support sex workers, keep doing that. If you don't, consider starting now. They are going to be some of the most vulnerable people in the upcoming US administration.

-I'm a queer person. Because my immediate physical safety is not being threatened, I am choosing to stay out both in real life and online. I will not make myself invisible or palatable out of fear of possible future retribution.

-(this isn't necessarily just an online thing, but I'm going to suggest it anyway) Keep - or start - checking out books by and about queer people and people of color at your local library. Borrow erotica, too, and books on polyamory and kink, and books on liberation ideologies. Borrow the digital versions and the paper versions and return them on time and in good condition. If you're a librarian with any kind of control over this, keep purchasing and displaying these books in accordance with your professional training.

Feel free to list other options in comments or tags or on reblogs.

Other lessons from On Tyranny:

#2: Defend institutions

#3: Beware the one-party state

#4: Take responsibility for the face of the world

#5-7: Remember professional ethics, Be wary of paramilitaries, and Be reflective if you must be armed

#8: Stand out

#9: Be kind to our language

#10: Believe in truth

[log-ladys-log]

On Writing Violence

As a society, we have overindulged on violence in media so much so that it has warped our perceptions of violence and degrees of violence. In this post, I hope to highlight some considerations when writing violence. These considerations are mostly for “realistic” fiction, but I do believe that a good piece of genre fiction will take these into account.

A note: I use the word “consideration” instead of “advice” because if you frame something as writing advice, every person will respond to it with their caveats and what-ifs. These are things to think about when revising your story. It is a framework to reflect on how you are writing and portraying violence.

Why? This may seem like a stupid or obvious question, but take time to reflect on why you are choosing to include each instance of violence in your story. What purpose does it serve? This question will help you avoid excessive or unnecessary violence and help you determine what your goals are with the scene.

Violence is rooted in power and the abuse of power. This applies to all forms of violence. When a person rapes another person, it isn’t about sex. When a person takes up arms against another, it is not out of a want to kill. Though, it should be of note that sometimes protagonists in long-running conflicts may lose sight of the ideological reasoning and attract “violent personalities.” This is due to the nature of how paramilitary-type groups fund themselves through activities such as drug-running and weapons-dealing.

Violence does not come out of nowhere, and rarely is it the first resort. Most violent campaigns started with peaceful campaigns. This applies both to the society and the character. Your character should believe that violence is the only way to achieve their goal. This should also translate into your world-building. You must prepare your reader for what is to come. There must be a pressure growing throughout the story. I like to think of it like a tube of toothpaste being squeezed until it bursts, and the paste goes everywhere. And once that tube has burst, you cannot put that filling back in. You cannot unfire a gun.

There must be consequences. Cycles of choice and consequences are what drive your story. Violence heightens this. It’s like in physics—for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can play with this. An understated reaction to an action of extremity shows a lot about a character and the world they live in, but there still must be some sort of consequence to this.

There is no faceless dead. It is common practice in modern media to have a character mow down a horde of extras with no thought. We are taught to disregard the cannon fodder—they are not worth our tears. An extension on this trope is the narrative treating the antagonist as a monster for killing so-and-so, but not portraying the protagonist in the same light when they raid the evil lair and take out the henchmen along the way. Though I understand why writers and filmmakers do this, I want to push back on it because it tells the audience that there are two types of people—those who are people and those who are props. Again, there are people who deserve mourning and those who do not. “Whether we love or hate them,” writes novelist Edwidge Danticat, “the people dying on the page must somehow reveal themselves to us. We must be invested in their fate, whether we want them to live or die.”

Keep the body count low. An earned death takes time to build. To build on the previous bullet point, those scenes with gratuitous amounts of dying desensitise us to death and murder. To my genre fiction people, I do not care how badass your assassin character is; 200 kills is a red flag. It shows a gap in research. It is also indicative of telling instead of showing. Lower the kill count and increase their age. As the saying goes, “Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young.” Assassin characters are something I could make a whole post on.

Given time, violence becomes mundane. It simply becomes background noise to the activities of daily life, that is until it rears its ugly head in your character’s direction. The show Derry Girls does a terrific job of positioning the realities and absurdities of conflict with adolescence. There’s the old adage that war is “months of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror.” Another great example of mundanity and violence, check out The Things They Carry by Tim O’Brien. He’s written extensively about how its the little things that haunt you.

Write the scene like a police report. This is a classic piece of advice given by Anton Chekhov. When it comes to those moments of the violence actually occurring, which in itself should be kept brief and the focus should be on the build and the aftermath, it is best to keep your language plain and succinct. This helps avoid glorification, gratuity, and cliché. It also helps keep what is happening clear to your audience. This is a time when you should tell your audience what is going on. I fear this requires a lot of drafting and beta-reading, but when you finally get it, it is so satisfying.

Bodies are political and culturally symbolic. If you’re going to be describing a dead body, then you have to be incredibly sensitive. This is especially true if you are working with minority or oppressed characters and astronomically important if you are writing outside your own identity. As British anthropologist Mary Douglas wrote in her book Purity and Danger, “The body is a model which can stand for any bounded system. Its boundaries can represent any boundaries which are threatened or precarious. The body is a complex structure. The functions of its different parts and their relation afford a source of symbols for other complex structures. We cannot possibly interpret rituals concerning excreta, breast milk, saliva and the rest unless we are prepared to see in the body a symbol of society, and to see the powers and dangers credited to social structure reproduced in small on the human body.” Though your story is fictional, the violence is not. In my personal practice, I try to avoid describing dead bodies unless I am working on a murder mystery, in which case I keep the language professional (see point 5).

These are just a few things to get you thinking. And this is no way intended to say you shouldn’t write violence or anything. In fact, it is incredibly important to write about violence. I just think it should be handled with great care. My final recommendation is research. Read stuff by peace scholars and activists. Read stuff by violent actors. Pick a conflict and read stuff from every angle, including the people you disagree with and the people who were just trying to live their lives.

[misfitwashere]

Twenty Lessons On Tyranny

From the Twentieth Century

TIMOTHY SNYDER

JAN 20

1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.

2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about -- a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union -- and take its side.

3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multiple-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.

4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

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.

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.

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.

8. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

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.

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.

11. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.

12. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

13. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

14. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.

15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.

16. Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

17. Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to use of the words "extremism" and "terrorism." Be alive to the fatal notions of "emergency" and "exception." Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

19. Be a patriot. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

20. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Timothy Snyder At Thinking About...:

1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. 2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about -- a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union -- and take its side. 3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multiple-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office. 4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so. 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. 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.

[...] 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. 11. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others. [...]

14. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks. 15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good. 16. Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

Timothy Snyder wrote in his Substack the twenty lessons on combatting tyranny that were in his book On Tyranny.

Key lessons:

1 Do not obey in advance.

2 Defend institutions.

3 Beware the one-party state.

10 Believe in truth.

15 Contribute to good causes

[werewolfetone]

Hi! So this is gonna sound weird, but I’ve kinda been learning about Irish history backwards? Like, I started with the Troubles (bc of family involvement), then back to the 1916 rising which got me more interested in the people involved which took me further back and etc etc. I know I’ve been doing it “wrong” but I’m just starting to come up to the 1798. Do you happen to have any recommended readings or particular persons of interest to read? Any collections of primary sources would be more than welcome!

Secondary sources I would recommend:

The Year of Liberty by Thomas Pakenham - about the rebellion in general

The People's Rising by Daniel Gahan - about the rebellion in Wexford

The Summer Soldiers by ATQ Stewart - about the rebellion in Ulster

Wolfe Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence by Marianne Elliott - about Wolfe Tone

The Life and Times of Mary Ann McCracken by Mary McNeill - technically this is just about Mary Ann but I think it's pretty good for Henry Joy McCracken too because there aren't many biographies of him

Orangeism in Ireland and Britain 1795 - 1836 by Hereward Senior - obviously exercise caution on whether or not you think you can mentally handle this subject but book about loyalism during 1798

Castlereagh: War, Enlightenment, and Tyranny by John Bew - about Lord Castlereagh

2 things that I would also recommend reading about for context are the French Revolution and the British radical movement of the late 18th century. for the French Revolution 1 book I would say is good is Liberty or Death by Peter McPhee and for the British radical movement... the book The English Jacobins by Carl B Cone does a good enough job

Primary sources:

The Memoirs of Theobald Wolfe Tone by Theobald Wolfe Tone - title is pretty self explanatory. It's Tone's account of his own life + his diary

The United Irishmen, Their Lives and Times by RR Madden - this is considered to be the 1st history of the rising & was written with the help of many people who lived through it, so it includes a lot of first hand accounts. HOWEVER. beware that Madden was your archetypical mid 19th century Catholic Irish nationalist and the bias created due to that shows through in every single part of these books

Memoirs of the different Rebellions in Ireland by Sir Richard Musgrave - this is another very early history of the rising, also written with the help of people who lived through, also including a lot of first hand accounts. HOWEVER. Musgrave is like Madden's Orange counterpart in that this book is also wildly biased and should also be read with a degree of caution

Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798, Sequel to Personal Narrative of the "Irish Rebellion" of 1798, and History and Consequences of the Battle of the Diamond by Charles Hamilton Teeling - 3 accounts of politics in Ireland in the 1790s written by someone who as a young man led the Catholic paramilitary the Defenders

The Drennan letters (a collection of letters that Belfast doctor William Drennan and his sister, Martha McTier, wrote to each other between the 1770s and 1820s), if you can find them, are another great primary source on both the United Irishmen & on what life was like back then in general, as are the McCracken letters, which I know are available free online somewhere I just can't remember where exactly I got the pdf from

There are a lot of them but if you're interested in primary sources you might also read some of the political pamphlets/books that were going around back then -- the most famous that come to mind in this context are Wolfe Tone's Argument on Behalf of the Catholics in Ireland, Thomas Paine's The Rights of Man, and Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France but there are wayyy more than that and at least some of them are on the internet archive

[fuzzyleapfrog]

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons

Which lesson would you like to know more about?

Do not obey in advance.

Defend institutions.

Beware the one-party state.

Take responsibility for the face of the world.

Remember professional ethics.

Be wary of paramilitaries.

Be reflective if you must be armed.

Stand out.

Be kind to our language.

Believe in truth.

Investigate.

Make eye contact and small talk.

Practice corporeal politics.

Establish a private life.

Contribute to good causes.

Learn from peers in other countries.

Listen for dangerous words.

Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

Be a patriot.

Be as courageous as you can.

Snyder, T. (2017). On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Crown.

[stanfave2]

Neo-Nazi group ‘actively seeking to grow in US’ with planned paramilitary training event | Far right (US) | The Guardian

BEWARE

[prairiedawn]

Tagged by @ollieofthebeholder

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

Lesson 7: Be reflective if you must be armed (The Magnus Archives, oneshot in series, 7 of 20. Rated T) Officer Hauser pushed three books across the checkout counter, romance novels by the look of them, and old enough that their clear plastic jacket protectors were starting to curl at the corners. 

Duet for Lantern and Prism (FaeTales, by @not_poignant, 10/?, Rated E. ) Beau dodged his fifth kangaroo on the winding road leading to Hillview and again regretted asking to use the drive up from Perth to practice for his license test.

Nowhere Else But Here (The Magnus Archives, Chapter 4/15, Rated T.) The Tether held; through cold steel already soiled with another monster's blood, through the pounding of shattering masonry, through the sickening fall to earth.

Lesson 6: Beware paramilitaries (The Magnus Archives, Series member 6/20, Rated T) "I'm just saying, we've got the space, and chickens are cute!" Martin said while keeping his eyes mostly on the highway. 

The InBESTigators and the Case of the Monstrous Mannequins (The Magnus Archives X The InBESTigators, Chapter 9/?, Rated T) AVA: Coming to you via tape recorder because, well…Ezra’s camera won't work. He's only a little upset.

Gods of hope and indigestion (MASH X The Magnus Archives, oneshot, Rated T) Gertrude Robinson had been faffing about the middle of the North American continent for the better part of a week while following up on the possibility that the Dust Bowl had resulted from a partially successful Buried Ritual. 

Lesson 5: Remember professional ethics (The Magnus Archives, Series member 5/20, Rated T) Rodrigo sat on the bright blue bean bag chair in Jon's workroom, watching oil and water swirl in a glitter jar, while Jon kept half an eye on him and half on the incident form on his desk.

Broken Heart Syndrome (MASH, Chapter 4/4, Rated T) Henry was dead. 

To Set Aside Fear for Courage (The Magnus Archives X Young Wizards, Chapter 27/27, Rated T) Gerard had been sent to the estate sale in Chelsea to find a single, particular Leitner--a little black volume no bigger than his hand that was supposed to draw the reader into a dark, impenetrable void of infinite size.

Lesson 4: Take responsibility for the face of the world (The Magnus Archives, Series member 4/20, Rated T) The library was open half-days on Saturdays.

Tagging (no pressure as always) @sieveyourtea, @wolfbanesparks, @wonkyelk, @hemi-demi, @andrandiriel, @remyfire, @morning-softness, @zetabrarian, @plaidshirtjimkirk, @skull-bearer

[booksinmythorax]

On Tyranny and Tumblr #4: Take responsibility for the face of the world

The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

Some of this must be done offline. If you are financially able, now is a good time to stock up on stickers from Black Lives Matter, the Progress Initiative* and/or other organizations that make Pride flag stickers, Planned Parenthood, or independent artists walking their talk while making stickers whose messages you agree with. (Watch out for giant corporations and dropshippers.)

Hell, make your own stickers! Sell them if you want, or don't, but do put them up in public spaces where stickering is allowed (or isn't allowed but is happening anyway). Place your own symbols and cover hateful ones.

If you're a graffiti artist, do your thing. If you see a graffiti artist doing their thing and they're not being a fascist about it, no you don't!

Look, bumper sticker activism won't save the world. It won't. But taking down or taping over hate symbols in the real world and making symbols of progress, solidarity, and liberation more visible has an impact. As a queer person, I exhale a little bit - a little bit - when I see someone else wearing a Progress Pride pin or with a rainbow sticker on their car.

Snyder asserts that "Life is political, not because the world cares about how you feel, but but because the world reacts to what you do. The minor choices we make are themselves a kind of vote, making it more or less likely that free and fair elections will be held in the future. In the politics of the everyday, our words and gestures, or their absence, count very much... 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" (Snyder 33-35).

Snyder uses imperfect language here. Whether a person is a citizen or not, is documented or not, is like you or not, make sure the symbols you display include them rather than exclude them.

Don't display symbols you don't agree with to avoid trouble. And don't avoid displaying any symbols at all out of fear. Your silence may be louder than you think.

Some ways we can apply this in our online lives include:

-Educate yourself on hate symbols, and update your knowledge regularly. Dogwhistles change when hate groups realize we're on to them. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League are good resources for learning about active hate groups and their current symbols.

-Let your mutuals or people you follow know if they are posting hateful symbols. Approach them one-on-one as if they are making a mistake, because they might be! I just had a conversation with an acquaintance in real life who had no idea that the Punisher skull is being used as a symbol by real-life far-right paramilitary groups.

-If you see accounts using hate speech or symbols repeatedly and on purpose, report them. Use the ADL database above and/or articles from the SPLC or other trustworthy publications as evidence in your report, since not everyone knows about every current hate symbol.

-Keep posting and reblogging content you believe in. Don't shame people; "I bet no one will reblog this", "No one is talking about this AND YOU KNOW WHY", and "If you don't reblog this you're a ___" are just not helpful, constructive, or true. But make your online space into a place with symbols that reflect who your activism includes.

*The Progress Initiative is not a 501(c)3 nonprofit, but the shop of Daniel Quasar, the person who created the original Progress Pride flag. Quasar enthusiastically encourages the creation and use of variations on their flag design, including those that include the intersex flag symbol.

Other lessons from On Tyranny:

#1: Do not obey in advance

#2: Defend institutions

#3: Beware the one-party state

#5-7: Remember professional ethics, Be wary of paramilitaries, and Be reflective if you must be armed

#8: Stand out

#9: Be kind to our language

#10: Believe in truth

[seekingstars]

Tim Snyder - On Tyranny

Chapter 1: Do Not Obey in Advance.

Chapter 2: Defend Institutions.

Chapter 3: Beware the One-Party State.

Chapter 4: Take Responsibility for the Face of the World.

Chapter 5: Remember Professional Ethics.

Chapter 6: Be Wary of Paramilitaries.

Chapter 7: Be Reflective If You Must Be Armed.

Chapter 8: Stand Out.

Chapter 9: Be Kind to Our Language.

Chapter 10: Believe in Truth.

Chapter 11: Investigate.

Chapter 12: Make Eye Contact and Small Talk.

Chapter 13: Practice Corporeal Politics.

Chapter 14: Establish a Private Life.

Chapter 15: Contribute to Good Causes.

Chapter 16: Learn from Peers in Other Countries.

Chapter 17: Listen for Dangerous Words.

Chapter 18: Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives.

Chapter 19: Be a Patriot.

Chapter 20: Be as Courageous as You Can.

[misfitwashere]

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow

Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

TIMOTHY SNYDER

MAR 30 READ IN APP

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Here is my best guidance for action, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons more than eight years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Millions of you, around the world, have put these lessons to good use; it has been humbling to learn how from courageous and creative dissenters, protestors, and oppositionists. I am delighted to have this special chance now to share the lessons again. I was honored when John, a wise advocate for civil discourse and civic engagement, volunteered to read them aloud. 

Above is his film. Below is the text, excerpted from the book. Do share this.

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1. Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.

2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of "our institutions" unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So choose an institution you care about -- a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union -- and take its side.

3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multiple-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.

4. Take responsibility for the face of the world. The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

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.

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.

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.

8. Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

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.

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.

11. Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.

12. Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

13. Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them. 

(Nota bene, jumping away from the text for a moment: there will be chancesto practice corporeal politics all over the USA on April 5th).

14. Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.

15. Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.

16. Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

17. Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to use of the words "extremism" and "terrorism." Be alive to the fatal notions of "emergency" and "exception." Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

19. Be a patriot. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

20. Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.

[ricardotomasz]

Such is life! Behold, a new Post published on Greater And Grander about Checklist, 48 Ways to Protect Yourself In The Age of Trump

See into my soul, as a new Post has been published on https://greaterandgrander.com/checklist-48-ways-to-protect-yourself-in-the-age-of-trump/

Checklist, 48 Ways to Protect Yourself In The Age of Trump

In today’s rapidly changing political landscape, protecting your privacy, financial security, and digital presence is more important than ever. This guide is designed for politically active artists, public figures, and individuals facing potential threats to their freedom of expression and personal safety.

Lessons from History: Defending Yourself Against Authoritarianism

To navigate an uncertain future, we can learn from past struggles against authoritarianism. Historian Timothy Snyder’s Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century offers critical insights:

Do not obey in advance.

Defend institutions.

Beware the one-party state.

Take responsibility for the face of the world.

Remember professional ethics.

Be wary of paramilitaries.

Be reflective if you must be armed.

Stand out.

Be kind to our language.

Believe in truth.

Investigate.

Make eye contact and small talk.

Practice corporeal politics.

Establish a private life.

Contribute to good causes.

Learn from peers in other countries.

Listen for dangerous words.

Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

Be a patriot.

Be as courageous as you can.

Protecting Your Finances from Political Targeting

Tax audits can be used as a tool of intimidation rather than financial oversight. To protect yourself:

Maintain meticulous financial records for at least seven years.

Separate business and personal finances to prevent unnecessary scrutiny.

Consider forming an LLC or corporation for legal protection.

Work with a tax professional to ensure compliance and minimize risk.

Document all deductions with receipts and justifications.

Consult a lawyer for guidance on handling politically motivated audits.

Limit public financial disclosures to minimize exposure.

Build a legal defense fund in case of financial retaliation.

Network with fellow artists and professionals for shared resources and support.

Defending Your Digital Presence Against Censorship

Social media deplatforming can silence voices critical of the establishment. To secure your online presence:

Diversify income streams with Patreon, Ko-fi, and direct sales.

Expand beyond major platforms to Mastodon, PeerTube, and blockchain-based services.

Maintain a personal website and email list hosted outside the U.S. or Russia.

Regularly archive content to keep secure offline copies.

Know the appeal processes for account reinstatement.

Engage with advocacy groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and PEN America.

Protecting Yourself from Frivolous Lawsuits

Politically motivated lawsuits can drain financial and emotional resources. Safeguard yourself by:

Using disclaimers like “In my opinion” and “Allegedly” to avoid defamation claims.

Citing sources for factual statements.

Using contracts for collaborations to define rights and responsibilities.

Understanding anti-SLAPP laws to fight baseless legal attacks.

Documenting all communications related to legal threats.

Considering business insurance that covers defamation claims.

Securing Personal Information Against Doxxing and Harassment

Right-wing groups and bad actors have a history of doxxing activists. Protect your identity and safety by:

Covering device cameras to prevent unauthorized access.

Using encrypted messaging apps like Signal with auto-delete features.

Deleting unnecessary texts and images to limit risk.

Regularly updating passwords with unique, secure phrases.

Enabling two-factor authentication on all critical accounts.

Using a PO Box instead of your home address for public contact.

Monitoring identity theft alerts for unusual activity.

Greater & Grander Media Services: Your Ally in Advocacy and Security

In uncertain times, strong branding, digital security, and advocacy matter more than ever. Greater & Grander Media Services specializes in:

Visually striking campaigns to make your message resonate.

Digital security strategies to safeguard your work and identity.

Strategic branding and messaging for maximum impact.

Stay visible, stay protected, and keep fighting for your rights. Contact Greater & Grander Media Services today to fortify your advocacy efforts.

Do you have your own thoughts? Let us know in the comments! Or join our community of successful creators on Patreon!

#Authoritarianism, #Cybersecurity, #DigitalPrivacy, #DonaldTrump, #Finances, #Harassment, #Lawsuits, #Political, #Politics, #Security, #Trump

[prairiedawn]

New Timothy Snyder Lesson Fic

Lesson 6: Beware paramilitaries Magnus Archives Somewhere Else fic Jon and Martin see something suspicious on their drive home from shopping in Green Bay.

[booksinmythorax]

On Tyranny and Tumblr #8: "Stand out."

Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

So this is the first time that Snyder has annoyed me. It doesn't invalidate his point, which we'll get to in a minute, but he did.

Here's how: He invoked Rosa Parks in this blurb, then spent the whole chapter discussing Winston Churchill and Teresa Prekerowa as in-depth examples of standing out. The latter, a Polish woman who brought food and medicine to the Warsaw ghetto, helped a Jewish family escape it before they would have been killed, and later became a historian of the Holocaust, certainly deserves note, but still.

As a historian of European history, it's understandable for Snyder to use his expertise in this book. However, it's annoying to me when white Americans say "Rosa Parks!" when they want to argue for standing out and then don't follow up with any background information.

If you're an American reading this, you probably know that Rosa Parks' action on a Montgomery, Alabama bus was the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. I hope you also know that her refusal to move when a white passenger complained was a planned action by a group of activists, not just a spontaneous decision because she was "tired".

You might not know that Parks was fired from her Montgomery job after her act of bravery. You might not know that she received death threats for years afterward, or that she had to move from Montgomery to Detroit, over 800 miles, after the boycott. You might not know (I didn't!) that she worked as a secretary for U.S. Representative John Conyers from Michigan for 23 years. Her activism continued long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Parks died in 2005. She was the first woman to "lie in honor" for viewing and public paying of respects in the Capitol Rotunda.*

Five states recognize a Rosa Parks Day sometime in the calendar. Notably, her birthplace and the location of her most famous activism, Alabama, does not.

So, with all that in mind, I'd like to amend Mr. Snyder's advice a little:

Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. Remember Rosa Parks. The moment you set an example, all hell may break loose, you may suffer personal consequences, and your life may never be the same. But the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

This is something we can do online. It is most effective in real life, in person, collectively. In addition to that:

-If someone you know personally, particularly someone with a lot of power, says or does something aligning with the incoming administration, speak up. Respond in the forum in which they speak, whether that's their social media page or dinner in your kitchen. Name-calling and snark are unlikely to change anybody's mind, but firmly disagree out loud and tell them why. Your speech will make others who disagree more likely to speak up.

-Keep calling your representatives. Use scripts sourced from social media or from the app 5 Calls if you want.

-Use your own social media to talk about issues you find important.

-If it is safe for you in your immediate environment, talk about your identities and your experiences online. Sometimes "standing out" is as easy as talking about your day.

Other lessons from On Tyranny:

#1: Do not obey in advance

#2: Defend institutions

#3: Beware the one-party state

#4: Take responsibility for the face of the world

#5-7: Remember professional ethics, Be wary of paramilitaries, and Be reflective if you must be armed

#9: Be kind to our language

#10: Believe in truth

*This was during George W. Bush's second term. His approval rating was terrible at 41 points at that time, and would fall to as low as an abysmal 25 points by late 2008. Rosa Parks deserved a state funeral, but the decision may have been a way for W to try and gain some approval among liberals. The only other non-state officials to have lain in honor in the Rotunda so far have been 2 Capitol Police officers in 1998, evangelical pastor Billy Graham in 2018, and 2 more Capitol Police officers in 2021.

[karlmarxmaybe]

Slight correction that Hamas is not a terrorist group, but a paramilitary liberation group, and calling them terrorists is part of the US-Israel strategy to evoke islamophobic and orientalist fears. It's 9/11 rhethoric. The IRA were called terrorists, the Black Panthers were called terrosists, at this point "terrorist" is not a descriptor, but a call to dehumanization of whichever group is using violence to defend themselves from an oppressive state. And in this case, the oppressive state is carrying out a genocide, while Hamas treats its prisoners humanely. Beware of how the US islamophobic propaganda has shaped our language.

also, a friendly reminder, the world we live in now consists of an active genocide.

of warcrimes being posted on twitter by the official account of israeli government.

of people looking at children, women and men being bombed, killed, starved and butchered and saying it is okay because of a single terrorist group, THAT ISRAEL CREATED.

of westerners saying to look away from the slaughter happening in gaza because your mental health is more important than thousands of lives.

of israeli politicians straight up using propaganda from nazi handbooks to dehumanise palestinians, calling them less than human, less than the rest of us, animals.

and what one palestinian man posted on his social media hit me more than anything: “if we actually were animals, people would care.”