In which Masha Gessen teaches Andrew Sullivan (and everyone else who has misused the word “totalitarian”) a clear lesson. 1/
“To compare the changing of the ideological tide in the United States to totalitarian ideology is to fail to take account of the power differential. Totalitarian ideology had the power of the state behind it.” 2/
The lesson is really basic.
It is embarrassing how many don’t get it.
Or willfully ignore it. 3/
It is embarrassing how many don’t get it.
Or willfully ignore it. 3/
“How does a vastly powerful institution such as the NYT use its power? Does it amplify the state in its most brutal expression, as it did in publishing the Tom Cotton piece? Or does it raise up voices that have been marginalized throughout history?“ #journalism
“Whether disinfectant should be used to treat the coronavirus, for example, cannot be portrayed as a matter of debate; we do not argue about whether murder should be allowed, unless we are talking about murder committed by the state.” 5/
“Just a few years ago, the question of whether couples of the same sex should have the right to marry was up for discussion. Today, there would probably be an outcry if the Times decided to stage a pro-and-con debate on the issue.” 6/
“Whether Americans should have access to universal, taxpayer-funded health care is currently subject to debate; with any luck, in ten years, it will not be.“ 7/
“If the story of the US is told primarily as one of a nation of immigrants, the story of a society that...enfranchised a great number of its members, where the arc of history has bent toward justice, then the legacy of slavery &...the nature of structural racism is obscured.” 8/
“But Sullivan & others don’t appear to see two competing historical narratives; rather, they see a challenge not to a story but to *the truth,* an eternal certainty, a natural state of things that the protests are threatening to destroy.“ 9/
“This is not only a shortsighted view but also an outdated one. Donald Trump has already dislodged the story of this country as a nation of immigrants on an inexorable path toward justice and equality, guaranteed by a commitment to individual liberties.” 10/
@threadreaderapp unroll
