Smith Winston

“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.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“People on the streets are dehumanized the same way settlers dehumanized the Indigenous, to steal the land of abundance at gunpoint, to tax the land to the fullest.”
― San Mateo, San Mateo: Proof of The Divine

“heal the roots, to see the tree grow vibrant.”
― Matthew Edward Hall, San Mateo: Proof of The Divine

“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.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism