Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Autocracy: Rules for Survival: Alternative Title How To Survive Trump
Masha Gessen
Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says. Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, that is our innate tendency to reach for a rationalization. This will happen often: humans seem to have evolved to practice denial when confronted publicly with the unacceptable. Back in the 1930s, The New York Times assured its readers that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was all posture. More recently, the same newspaper made a telling choice between two statements made by Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov following a police crackdown on protesters in Moscow: “The police acted mildly—I would have liked them to act more harshly” rather than those protesters’ “liver should have been spread all over the pavement.” Perhaps the journalists could not believe their ears. But they should—both in the Russian case, and in the American one. For all the admiration Trump has expressed for Putin, the two men are very different; if anything, there is even more reason to listen to everything Trump has said. He has no political establishment into which to fold himself following the campaign, and therefore no reason to shed his campaign rhetoric. On the contrary: it is now the establishment that is rushing to accommodate him—from the president, who met with him at the White House on Thursday, to the leaders of the Republican Party, who are discarding their long-held scruples to embrace his radical positions.
He has received the support he needed to win, and the adulation he craves, precisely because of his outrageous threats. Trump rally crowds have chanted “Lock her up!” They, and he, meant every word. If Trump does not go after Hillary Clinton on his first day in office, if he instead focuses, as his acceptance speech indicated he might, on the unifying project of investing in infrastructure (which, not coincidentally, would provide an instant opportunity to reward his cronies and himself), it will be foolish to breathe a sigh of relief. Trump has made his plans clear, and he has made a compact with his voters to carry them out. These plans include not only dismantling legislation such as Obamacare but also doing away with judicial restraint—and, yes, punishing opponents.
To begin jailing his political opponents, or just one opponent, Trump will begin by trying to capture members of the judicial system. Observers and even activists functioning in the normal-election mode are fixated on the Supreme Court as the site of the highest-risk impending Trump appointment. There is little doubt that Trump will appoint someone who will cause the Court to veer to the right; there is also the risk that it might be someone who will wreak havoc with the very culture of the high court. And since Trump plans to use the judicial system to carry out his political vendettas, his pick for attorney general will be no less important. Imagine former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie going after Hillary Clinton on orders from President Trump; quite aside from their approach to issues such as the Geneva Conventions, the use of police powers, criminal justice reforms, and other urgent concerns.
Rule #2: Do not be taken in by small signs of normality. Consider the financial markets this week, which, having tanked overnight, rebounded following the Clinton and Obama speeches. Confronted with political volatility, the markets become suckers for calming rhetoric from authority figures. So do people. Panic can be neutralized by falsely reassuring words about how the world as we know it has not ended. It is a fact that the world did not end on November 8 nor at any previous time in history. Yet history has seen many catastrophes, and most of them unfolded over time. That time included periods of relative calm. One of my favorite thinkers, the Jewish historian Simon Dubnow, breathed a sigh of relief in early October 1939: he had moved from Berlin to Latvia, and he wrote to his friends that he was certain that the tiny country wedged between two tyrannies would retain its sovereignty and Dubnow himself would be safe. Shortly after that, Latvia was occupied by the Soviets, then by the Germans, then by the Soviets again—but by that time Dubnow had been killed. Dubnow was well aware that he was living through a catastrophic period in history—it’s just that he thought he had managed to find a pocket of normality within it.
Rule #3: Institutions will not save you. It took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and four years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed. The capture of institutions in Turkey has been carried out even faster, by a man once celebrated as the democrat to lead Turkey into the EU. Poland has in less than a year undone half of a quarter century’s accomplishments in building a constitutional democracy.
Of course, the United States has much stronger institutions than Germany did in the 1930s, or Russia does today. Both Clinton and Obama in their speeches stressed the importance and strength of these institutions. The problem, however, is that many of these institutions are enshrined in political culture rather than in law, and all of them—including the ones enshrined in law—depend on the good faith of all actors to fulfill their purpose and uphold the Constitution.
The national press is likely to be among the first institutional victims of Trumpism. There is no law that requires the presidential administration to hold daily briefings, none that guarantees media access to the White House. Many journalists may soon face a dilemma long familiar to those of us who have worked under autocracies: fall in line or forfeit access. There is no good solution (even if there is a right answer), for journalism is difficult and sometimes impossible without access to information.
The power of the investigative press—whose adherence to fact has already been severely challenged by the conspiracy-minded, lie-spinning Trump campaign—will grow weaker. The world will grow murkier. Even in the unlikely event that some mainstream media outlets decide to declare themselves in opposition to the current government, or even simply to report its abuses and failings, the president will get to frame many issues. Coverage, and thinking, will drift in a Trumpian direction, just as it did during the campaign—when, for example, the candidates argued, in essence, whether Muslim Americans bear collective responsibility for acts of terrorism or can redeem themselves by becoming the “eyes and ears” of law enforcement. Thus was xenophobia further normalized, paving the way for Trump to make good on his promises to track American Muslims and ban Muslims from entering the United States.
Rule #4: Be outraged. If you follow Rule #1 and believe what the autocrat-elect is saying, you will not be surprised. But in the face of the impulse to normalize, it is essential to maintain one’s capacity for shock. This will lead people to call you unreasonable and hysterical, and to accuse you of overreacting. It is no fun to be the only hysterical person in the room. Prepare yourself.
Despite losing the popular vote, Trump has secured as much power as any American leader in recent history. The Republican Party controls both houses of Congress. There is a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The country is at war abroad and has been in a state of mobilization for fifteen years. This means not only that Trump will be able to move fast but also that he will become accustomed to an unusually high level of political support. He will want to maintain and increase it—his ideal is the totalitarian-level popularity numbers of Vladimir Putin—and the way to achieve that is through mobilization. There will be more wars, abroad and at home.
Rule #5: Don’t make compromises. Like Ted Cruz, who made the journey from calling Trump “utterly amoral” and a “pathological liar” to endorsing him in late September to praising his win as an “amazing victory for the American worker,” Republican politicians have fallen into line. Conservative pundits who broke ranks during the campaign will return to the fold. Democrats in Congress will begin to make the case for cooperation, for the sake of getting anything done—or at least, they will say, minimizing the damage. Nongovernmental organizations, many of which are reeling at the moment, faced with a transition period in which there is no opening for their input, will grasp at chances to work with the new administration. This will be fruitless—damage cannot be minimized, much less reversed, when mobilization is the goal—but worse, it will be soul-destroying. In an autocracy, politics as the art of the possible is in fact utterly amoral. Those who argue for cooperation will make the case, much as President Obama did in his speech, that cooperation is essential for the future. They will be willfully ignoring the corrupting touch of autocracy, from which the future must be protected.
Rule #6: Remember the future. Nothing lasts forever. Donald Trump certainly will not, and Trumpism, to the extent that it is centered on Trump’s persona, will not either. Failure to imagine the future may have lost the Democrats this election. They offered no vision of the future to counterbalance Trump’s all-too-familiar white-populist vision of an imaginary past. They had also long ignored the strange and outdated institutions of American democracy that call out for reform—like the electoral college, which has now cost the Democratic Party two elections in which Republicans won with the minority of the popular vote. That should not be normal. But resistance—stubborn, uncompromising, outraged—should be.
Masha Gessen is the author of The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2017. She is a staff writer at The New Yorker. (February 2018)
Six In The Morning Tuesday 31 December 2019
Australia bushfires: towns devastated and lives lost as blazes turn the sky red
Thousands shelter on beaches as fires rip through Victoria and New South Wales
Australia’s bushfire crisis has claimed at least two more lives, authorities confirmed on Tuesday, as dozens of fires tore through several towns on the east coast and forced thousands of people to take shelter on beaches.
Two people – a father and son – died when fire hit the New South Wales town of Cobargo on Tuesday, while emergency services officials held grave fears for a third person, near Narooma, on the state’s south coast.
Baghdad embassy attack: Iraqi protesters storm US compound as gunshots ring out
Donald Trump blamed Iran for ‘orchestrating’ the attack, vowing a strong response
Iraqi supporters of an Iranian-backed militia on Tuesday stormed the US embassy compound in Baghdad and set it partly aflame during a rowdy demonstration that has raised tensions between Tehran and Washington.
The protesters broke down the US embassy gate door and managed to make their way into the security kiosk at the entrance of the heavily guarded compound, as gunshots and sirens rang out in the Iraqi capital, according to news organisations and video footage.
Security forces fired tear gas and stun guns in an attempt to disperse the hundreds of protesters, injuring at least two bloodied militiamen. The guard towers protecting the massive compound also appeared to be on fire.
Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's ex-head, flees Japan to Lebanon
Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has travelled to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, where he faces a trial over allegations of financial misconduct.
In a statement, Mr Ghosn said he had not fled justice but "escaped injustice and political persecution".
His lawyer said he was "dumbfounded" by the news and that he had not recently spoken with his client.
It is unclear how the former chief executive officer managed to leave, as he was barred from travelling abroad.
Hong Kong protesters carry political demands into 2020
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong held hands and formed human chains across the city on Tuesday, as they carried their months-long movement and its demands into 2020 with midnight countdown rallies and a massive march planned for New Year's Day.
The financial hub has been battered by more than six months of protests that included huge peaceful marches attended by millions, as well as violent confrontations in which police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and protesters responded with flurries of petrol bombs.
In a video message posted on Facebook city leader Carrie Lam said she would "humbly listen to find a way out" for the city, but didn't address protester demands for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.
US Army bans soldiers from using TikTok over security worries
Japanese Rental Car Experience: Better than Trains?
Driving in Japan is a wonder experience for those who want to escape the touristy areas over-visited by JR Rail Pass holders. Yes, Japan has some of the world’s best trains, but it’s also a big car culture, many of the world’s top car makers based in Japan and the roads here were built for them. Driving a car can be more economical for families and rather than wheeling around suitcases, cars will be able to get your luggage around faster. You always have a locker to keep your things safe! But is it better than a JR Rail Pass? Depending on what you want to do, I think so. With an international driver’s license, you can get around those scenic roads, stop anywhere you like for a photo or go in your own direction.
Monday, December 30, 2019
Six In The Morning Monday 30 December 2019
Attacks on children in war zones almost triple since 2010
Some 45 violations – including killings, maiming and sexual violence – carried out against youngsters every single day over last 10 yearsColin Drury
Attacks on children forced to live in conflict zones have almost tripled over the last decade, the United Nations has said.
Some 170,000 violations against youngsters – including killing, maiming, sexual violence and child recruitment – have been verified since 2010, UNICEF reports.
The figure amounts to the equivalent of 45 abuses every single day for 10 years.
Australia fires: one firefighter killed as bushfires rip through four states
There are fears that many houses may have been lost on a horrific day in Victoria and Tasmania, with more extreme weather forecast for New Year’s Eve
One firefighter has died and multiple properties are feared lost after terrifying bushfires driven by extreme weather conditions swept across four Australian states on Monday.
The volunteer firefighter from the New South Wales Rural Fire Service died when a truck rolled near Jingellic, about 70km east of Albury, on the border with Victoria. The RFS said two trucks, including the one in which the firefighter died, had been overturned by high winds. Two others suffered burns in the crash.
Ten people have now died during one of the worst bushfire seasons in the nation’s history, which have burned through more than 4.6m hectares.China jails scientists for CRISPR gene-edited babies
A court has found Chinese scientist He Jiankui guilty of illegal medical practice. He had claimed credit for genetically engineering twins resistant to HIV in a controversial procedure.
A Chinese court on Monday sentenced biophysics researcher He Jiankui to three years in prison for creating the world's first "gene-edited" babies.
Two other scientists who assisted He were also handed lesser sentences.
"The three accused did not have the proper certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment," said the court, according to China's Xinhua news agency.
Crowdfunding and solidarity: How French rail workers sustain a record-long strike
Now in their 25th day, France’s nationwide strikes against the government’s pension reform plans are the longest in more than 30 years. But how are strikers coping after nearly four weeks without pay?
On the eve of the New Year, the strikes led by French rail and transport workers are poised to become the longest of their kind in the country’s history. The last time workers at the national rail company SNCF went on strike for this long was in December 1986. That walkout, too, spanned the winter holidays: Employees returned to work only on January 15, 1987, after a full 28 days off the job.
With no retreat in sight from either the government or the unions, today’s strikes could soon beat that record, forcing strikers to find creative ways to cope.
A decade of protests has reshaped the Arab world -- and more change is on the way
Updated 1211 GMT (2011 HKT) December 30, 2019
When protesters flooded the streets of Tunisia and Egypt almost a decade ago, millions across the region were glued to their television screens. A barrier of fear had been broken, and the Arab world would never again be the same.
Since then, the region has endured a painful period of transition, polarization and introspection. The protests breathed new life into civil societies, even as increasingly repressive states pushed activists to work under a cloak of secrecy, and the unrest stoked pre-existing sectarian tensions.
Pulled in multiple directions, the Arab world has been mired in various existential crises, stuck somewhere between progress and the status quo. But a shift is underway, and there is now a new power player on the scene: the people.
Greta Thunberg's father: 'She is happy, but I worry'
Greta Thunberg's father has said he thought it was "a bad idea" for his daughter to take to the "front line" of the battle against climate change.
Millions of people have been inspired to join the 16-year-old in raising awareness of environmental issues.
But Svante Thunberg told the BBC he was "not supportive" of his daughter skipping school for the climate strike.
Mr Thunberg said Greta was much happier since becoming an activist - but that he worries about the "hate" she faces.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Zahida: On the Road with Pakistan's First Female Taxi Driver
"It wouldn't work if I left the house thinking that I'm a woman. To compete with men, I had to be like a man." - Zahida, Pakistan's first female taxi driver
In 1992, Zahida became Pakistan's first female taxi driver and a local legend.
Twice widowed, she is independent, feisty and street-wise, with a reputation for being a master hustler.
But now, aged 56 and with a seven-year-old daughter to raise, she is still fighting to make a living on the dusty roads of Rawalpindi.
"My life is one big struggle," she reflects.
Six In The Morning Sunday 29 December 2019
It's been a banner year for authoritarian leaders. Especially Vladimir Putin
Updated 0906 GMT (1706 HKT) December 29, 2019
In the global battle of ideas, Russian President Vladimir Putin has had a banner year.
Back in June, Putin made waves by declaring the death of Western liberalism.
Those remarks seemed timed to provoke debate ahead of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. But it wasn't just talk: In the months that followed, Putin would continue to set the example for authoritarian leadership.
Take, for example, Putin's policies toward his country's embattled and marginalized political opposition.
For much of the summer, the Russian capital of Moscow saw a wave of opposition demonstrations. For a time, unsanctioned rallies and solo protests seemed to gain momentum. Russian authorities even dropped criminal charges against a prominent investigative reporter after an unexpected public outpouring of support.
EU accused of seeking to cut funds for poor in post-Brexit cost savings
Plan to drop dedicated fund while defence spending rises dismissed as false economy
The European commission has been accused of seeking to cut EU funding for the continent’s poorest people by 50% to secure post-Brexit cost savings and extra funds for defence projects.
Jacques Vandenschrik, the president of the European Food Banks Federation, said the EU executive’s proposed spending plans for the next seven years posed a risk not only to the most vulnerable but to the stability of wider society.
EU institutions are currently hammering out the details of the bloc’s long-term budget, known as the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The UK’s withdrawal will leave a large hole to plug. Senior EU officials have described the negotiations over the commission’s proposed €1,135bn (£970bn) in spending commitments as the most difficult ever undertaken.
Trump and his supporters have claimed impeachment 'won't go anywhere'. The truth is it will change 2020 entirely
Right-wing commentators are claiming that 'outside DC, no one paid any attention to impeachment'. But they've got it all wrong — because they operate within a bubble themselves
Berny BelvedereMiami, Florida
Prior to yesterday, when the specter of impeachment was still hovering over Republican hearts like a death-summoning pall, some conservatives tried very hard to deny the political gravity of what it would mean for Donald Trump to become only the third US president in history to be impeached.
A recurring criticism of the Democratic impeachment effort from the Republican side was that it was merely symbolic — the Senate is under GOP control, so impeachment will obviously come to nothing (per the US Constitution, the House impeaches but the Senate convicts). Conservative author and commentator Ben Shapiro managed to get a right-wing two-for-one — by sneaking in a dig at taking climate change seriously — when he tweeted: “Impeachment is like the Paris Accords. Both accomplish nothing, but make everybody who supports them feel good.”
Bangladeshi Textile WorkersJust 11 Days a Year with Her Daughter
Women like Tasnia Begum work in Bangladesh's cities and sew clothes for Western consumers. Often, the only time they see their children is during the holidays.
Tasnia Begum has 11 days off. For the entire year. And because she wants to use every single minute of her time, she has decided to travel through the night. Normally, she says, she would never do such a thing. Traveling alone as a woman, after all, isn't altogether safe and could even be dangerous. But to make it as safe as possible, she has reserved seat Nr. 1, right behind the bus driver.
The ticket set her back 600 taka, the equivalent of around 6 euros or $6.68. It's about what the 25-year-old textile worker makes sewing T-shirts for two days. Her employer is a company that used to supply H&M and now sends its wares to Walmart. She works in a nameless textile factory in an industrial area in Chittagong, a cement-gray city of 2 million residents located on the Bay of Bengal. It is the second-largest textile production site in southern Bangladesh.
Ukraine begins prisoner swap with pro-Russian separatists
Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have started an all-for-all prisoner swap, after which all remaining prisoners of the five-year conflict should return home, the office of Ukraine's president said on Sunday.
The agreement was concluded by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris in December.
The swap is taking place at a check point near the industrial town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region.
Russia's RIA news agency, citing a local official from the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, said Kiev would hand over 87 separatists, while Donetsk would return 55 pro-central government fighters.
Kiev's forces have been battling separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement.
Monsey stabbing: Five people wounded at home of New York rabbi
At least five people have been stabbed at the house of a rabbi in New York state, police say.
The house in Monsey, north of New York City, was hosting a religious celebration when the attacker burst in, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC).
The suspect fled but was later taken into custody, police said. The motive was not immediately clear.
One of the victims was stabbed at least six times, OJPAC said in a tweet.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Is climate change the burning issue in Australia?
Raging bushfires in Australia reignite the debate over climate change, with the government accused of not doing enough.
Bushfires are common during the summer in Australia, but firefighters said this year's conditions are catastrophic.
At least eight people have been killed since September, including two firefighters who died on Thursday when their truck was hit by a falling tree.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison cut short his holiday to Hawaii and issued a rare public apology in response to mounting anger.
Australia's not alone in having to deal with ferocious fires this year. There were more than 1,600 recorded in Europe, large parts of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of hectares of land and hundreds of buildings in California.
Joy Reid Hilariously Demolishes The Trumpy Poutrage Over 'Home Alone 2' (video)
Joy Reid smacked down every lie that Donald Trump Jr. and his Fox News echo chamber spouted in order to play the Big Conservative Victims after Canada edited out Daddy Trump's cameo from "Home Alone 2."
Reid began with a clip of Fox News host Jesse Watters whining that the removal of the cameo was “rewriting history” because Trump was “a tycoon that was admired and embraced by American culture, by Hollywood, by the entertainment industry in the 90s.”
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