Summary of the Blinkist summary :
Resist tyranny
If you look at the democratic governments that have collapsed in the years since World War I, you’ll notice that each fell to a single party that seized power from within the nation.
Nazis, communists and fascists have traditionally used spectacle and repression to enable their takeovers. They’ve also tended to use salami tactics, the process of slicing away at the opposition, taking power piece by piece. Often the public is too distracted to notice the threat to their freedom. This is why you must be vigilant and support a multiparty system by being politically active. What you want to avoid is one power controlling every level of the government.
Another sign to beware of is paramilitary forces – that is, any military presence that isn’t state or federally sanctioned.
Freedom & Privacy
Freedom depends on controlling your information. The less control you have over who can read your personal details and correspondence, the more personal freedom you’re giving up. You need to protect what’s yours or else it’ll no longer be considered private – and soon other rights you thought were inherent will also be taken away.
Tyrannical regimes will use any means to make the populace fearful, so don’t give them ammunition by leaving your personal information up for grabs. Protect your freedom by securing your privacy.
Truth Distortion
There’re 4 stages in the process of the truth getting so twisted that it no longer exists.
➀ Open hostility to verifiable truth and reality, lies are presented as facts
➁ An endless repetition of the same lies (illusory truth effect)
➂ Contradictions are openly embraced
e.g. Trump promised tax cuts and the elimination of the national debt and an increase in spending on defence programs. Clearly, these promises directly contradict one another.
➃ Characterised by misplaced faith in leaders who pronounce themselves as the “voice of the people” or the saviour of a nation’s true values
e.g. “I AM YOUR VOICE” Trump, 2016 Republican National Convention speech
Actionable Advice
Don’t engage in defeatist thinking, and read up on the origins of totalitarianism such as The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
A lot of people think, “I’m not powerful enough to change anything, so why should I bother participating in politics?” It’s an understandable sentiment, but it’s also a very flawed one and one that fails to grasp how change really occurs.
Change doesn’t happen all at once, in some grand fashion – it happens slowly, whether it’s for the better or the worse. So remember: every little bit helps and don’t let yourself get into the self-fulfilling cycle of defeatist thinking.
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