@nytopinion “We’re like people on the Titanic saying our ship can’t sink. And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink,” says Marci Shore. Marci, along with Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley, all professors at Yale and experts in authoritarianism, explain why America is especially vulnerable to a democratic backsliding — and why they are leaving the United States for Canada. | 🎥 Francesca Trianni and @byjamesrobinson #nytopinion ♬ original sound – New York Times Opinion
Three Yale history professors who are experts in authoritarianism explain what they see happening in the U.S. right now under Trump and point out the many similarities between the current situation and the historical onset of totalitarianism in other countries.
Marci Shore was a professor of intellectual history at Yale University, where she taught European culture and specialized in the history of literary and political engagement. She 
has studied the history of totalitarianism. She is now teaching at the University of Toronto.
Jason Stanley was a Yale University professor of philosophy who studies fascism. He wrote a book titled “How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them,” published in 2018. He accepted an appointment in Canada after seeing “too many signs from his own work in the American political landscape.”
Timothy Snyder is a historian who specializes in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. Dr. Snyder has written books titled “The Road to Unfreedom” about the rise of authoritarianism in Russia, Europe and the U.S., and “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” a guide “for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.” He left his position at Yale to go to the University of Toronto for an indefinite amount of time.
These three experts have stern words of warning for Americans about what the U.S. is undergoing right now under the Trump regime.
Our country is being victimized by a bully in a china shop. He’s dangerous. He’s funded and manipulated by our enemies. And, meanwhile, we, who are abused and harmed, are being blamed for being abused and harmed. It’s very like “she was dressed provocatively, so it’s her fault she was raped.”
A verbose bloviator in our midst is doing just that.
I did address the topic of the article. In a nutshell, it goes like this “the people clutching their pearls over Trump have no standing because they had no problem with Joe.”
If you’re tired of reading my opinions, just stop. It’s really easy.
I am getting what I voted for. The scales are being tipped in the right direction. If people like what Trump has done, Republicans may have another eight years after he leaves office.
You are getting what I voted for as well. That’s the way it works in this country.
As I have said…if you don’t like it, figure out a better candidate for the next time around. There’s ample time.
🙂
Ooops…wrong Timothy Snyder. So sorry.
But while I’m at it…I’ll say a few more things…If they are correct and we are headed for totalitarianism…how did we get here? Trump was elected, at least twice. Do you think he did that by casting a spell? Was it magic? He certainly never hid who he was, like some people we know.
He was elected as a reaction to the Democrat party. People said loud and clear they are sick of the overbearing “know it allness” attitude… Telling us we are stupid and racist and don’t believe in science and lying.
As Steve Bannon says, “the people have had a belly full of it”.
Just a word of warning…
If you don’t want to be called stupid, racist, and a science denier, there is a simple solution.
Stop defending stupid racists and science deniers. If you do nothing but defend those who are blatently racist, who demonstrate their lack of knowledge on the most basic of subjects on a daily basis, and who deny the findings of the vast majority of actual scientists in a given field for obvious political gain, then don’t be surprised when you get lumped in with them.
You might also try addressing the topic of the article, instead of continouosly bringing up how terrible you think Biden was. We know you believe he was all those awful things. We also know you haven’t a shred of evidence for any of it, but that has never stopped you. We get it already. Whataboutism never convinced anyone of anything except the fact that you can’t argue the topic at hand so you have to try to deflect the conversation to a different topic. It’s getting pretty old.
I did address the topic of the article. In a nutshell, it goes like this “the people clutching their pearls over Trump have no standing because they had no problem with Joe.”
If you’re tired of reading my opinions, just stop. It’s really easy.
Why would I stop reading your opinions? You are a constant reminder of how cruel and heartless the modern Republicans are, not to mention how gullible and easily led the MAGA faithful are. You are a constant encouragement to continue fighting.
See…I’m good for something!
Don’t forget your sunscreen.
PS. Nobody m inds being called ignorant, deplorable and garbage by the left. It’s become a joke and a meme and we’re used to it.
What I’m saying is that it affects the way people vote. Ignore this at your peril.
Good, because it isn’t going to stop. You demonstrate your ignorance on a daily basis. You repeat long-disproven lies as if they were true. You are gullible, harry. Very, very, gullible. You believe what you want, and ignore what you don’t want to believe. How do you think you can find the truth that way?
I’m wondering if you are open minded enough to understand how comical it is to normal people to witness you and the various professors you cite warning about the looming authoritarianism of the Trump administration.
I say this because people like you and your party stood up a cardboard cut out, Joe Biden, and said he was the president. He did some real damage, which I’ve spelled out many times before. Now we know that he wasn’t calling the shots and we actually have no idea who was. That’s the epitome of authoritarianism, complete with a shadow government, much like the Soviets had for decades
Of course “election deniers” had eyes to see all of this in 2020 and couldn’t believe our fellow countrymen would elect him. We also now know that the democrats will do anything to stay in power.
I’m not sure what your plan is except to keep people angry until the midterms, Your obvious problem is that normal people aren’t likely to forget what happened. You have sullied your reputation.
I’m sure the hallelujah chorus around here will accuse me again (and again) of whataboutism…that I don’t have what it takes to defend Trump against the charges of such leading lights as Tim Snyder (who has a lovely collection of necklaces he wears when he appears nightly on MSNBC). Since I don’t take them seriously, all I can really do is point to their jaw-dropping hypocrisy. “We just didn’t know! The Biden cabinet was lying to us”.
I support Trump and his administration as they battle against the incessant barrage of lawfare tactics. They’re getting pretty good at it and we’re all learning a lot about the way our country works. It’s certainly not the way we learned it in high school.
I hope you get what you voted for. I mean that with the utmost sincerity. 🙂
I am getting what I voted for. The scales are being tipped in the right direction. If people like what Trump has done, Republicans may have another eight years after he leaves office.
You are getting what I voted for as well. That’s the way it works in this country.
As I have said…if you don’t like it, figure out a better candidate for the next time around. There’s ample time.
🙂