DENIALISM—PART II: DEFEATING THE DISEASE
As we come closer and closer to descending into an authoritarian abyss, we must—emergently—regain focus on the mission at hand.
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In a nutshell, the solution is the following three actions, which I describe in greater detail below.
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(2) Psychologically, we must overcome the proclivity for denialism.
(3) Culturally, we must shed the belief in American exceptionalism.
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Most of all, we must accept the reality of Trump’s 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 and the reality of our current 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺.
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To prove that we are currently on such a path, I could point to a range of evidence, from the work of @TimothyDSnyder to @sarahkendzior to @Peter_Turchin to @brooks_rosa to myself.
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Most important, the strategy of our resistance must be homed on the country’s trajectory—for strategy that is lost in minutiae is no strategy at all.
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Fascism often begins when it is invisible and distant. Like a virus, it is insidious.
Then, one day, it overwhelms the society.
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That process starts with moving our denialism from the subconscious to the conscious.
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This is happening. This is not normal. This is not right.
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The bottom line is this: what is happening right now would not have happened under any other peaceful president.
Again, this is not normal.
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Human nature is universal, and we humans in the U.S. are just like all of the other humans elsewhere.
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In fact, the real and dangerous exception may be that our naiveté in the face of autocracy only serves to make us more susceptible to an authoritarian coup.
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As many resistors giddily count down the days to the election, it is hard not to wonder whether they are counting down to celebration or calamity.
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Denialism kills.
Therefore, in the third and final thread of this series that I will publish soon, I will detail the moral urgency of defeating the denialist disease.
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