Evan Genest's Learning Log

I keep notes here. Most of these are related to travel, work, or books.

What I Learned From Rules For Resistance

activism

Summarized articles, all written in late 2015 by journalists who covered the dictators in their own countries.

Hungary: Miklos Haraszti

Populists govern by swapping issues, as opposed to resolving them.
They want to be hated. In the case of Victor Orban, being hated is the first step in his strategy, followed by (1) defending and then (2) triumphing.

Populists turn into peaceniks or imperialists capriciously, depending on what they think will yield good spin. In 2015 Erdogan and Putin BOTH switched, within months, from warring with each other to fraternity.

What works

The public's moral indignation over nepotism proves to be the nemesis of illiberal regimes. Personal and family greed, cronyism, thievery, combined with hypocrisy. Betrayed expectations of a selfless strongman have led to civic awakenings.
Defend institutions that enforce transparency and justice.

Challenge in America

The hard to change constitution.

Turkey: Turkuler Isiksel

How Erdogan did it in Turkey

With always less than half of the popular vote, Ergogan jailed journalists, activists, judges, generals, and members of parliament.

To inspire his base he: reignited a dormant civil conflict, stoked ultranationalist violence, allowed extremist movements to flourish, orchestrated military incursions into two neighboring countries, and moved norms away from the rule of law.

In hindsight,, the signs of his authoritarian intentions were there all along; many of us just didn't think the republic would succomb so easily.

The American Problem, Summarized

James Madison's ingenious checks and balances were designed to wighstand the mundane incompetence, greed, and shortsightedness of politicians.
But it cannot weather the onslaught of an aspiring tyrant hell-bent on destroying it.

Expect a bullying White House to cow the press.
Beware Trump's singular genius: manipulating the media.

What Works

Liberals mistake the threat as the usual: culture war attacks and reversals of policies that help people. This is not a dogfight between liberals and conservatives. It is a struggle between those who believe in preserving the imperfect but serviceable constitutional system of the republic and those who will try to undermine it. For all his abhorrent policy positions, a President Ted Cruz could have been counted on to observer the strictures of constitutional democracy.

None of the following are part of the usual left/right dogfight:

Poland, Anne Applebaum

Protests, if not carefully targeted, achieve little.

Caveats

Protests inspire conspiracy theorists that the protesters are "foreign, paid, Jewish".
Real change comes through politics, political parties, and elections. Poland, though damaged, is still a democracy.
If the people who who put time into demonstrations also prove willing to work on behalf of candidates in local elections - or become candidates themselves - they will achieve far more.
A mayor is in a far better position to resist attacks than a man carrying a sign.
Five Democratic senators can do more to block extremist judges or damaging policies than 5 million people chanting slogans. I'm sorry if you are angry at the establishment. You need to work for it and within it if you want it to change.