“Unlike Marxism, the illiberal one-party state is not a philosophy. It is a mechanism for holding power, and it functions happily alongside many ideologies.”
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
“It is better described as simple-mindedness: people are often attracted to authoritarian ideas because they are bothered by complexity. They dislike divisiveness. They prefer unity. A sudden onslaught of diversity—diversity of opinions, diversity of experiences—therefore makes them angry. They seek solutions in new political language that makes them feel safer and more secure.”
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
“But evil does not die, just as history does not end. Like a weed, evil can be cut back but never entirely uprooted. It waits for its chance to spread through the cracks in our vigilance. It can take root in the fertile soil of our complacency, or even the rocky rubble of the fallen Berlin Wall.”
― Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
― Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
“The emotional appeal of a conspiracy theory is in its simplicity. It explains away complex phenomena, accounts for chance and accidents, offers the believer the satisfying sense of having special, privileged access to the truth. For those who become the one-party state’s gatekeepers, the repetition of these conspiracy theories also brings another reward: power.”
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
― Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism
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