From frogs to freedom: the slow creep of authoritarianism |
As fear-driven narratives tighten their grip, civil liberties are being chipped away in plain sight — from Trump’s visa diktats to UK politicians flirting with authoritarianism. The question is: why aren’t we fighting back, asks Dani Garavelli
The other day, I found myself thinking about the frog that slowly boiled to death. A friend had been talking about how we got where we are, pondering why there was no great backlash in the early days when the erosion of our rights was insidious, and why we aren’t rioting on the streets now they are flagrant, in-our-face, undeniable. Of course, as scientists have demonstrated, the frog story isn’t true. Frogs notice the water warming; they jump to save their skins. They have more common sense than us. Or maybe just an instinct for survival.
Every week now, it seems, there are fresh attacks on civil liberties we once considered sacrosanct, inalienable. These are delivered both in the service of populism and the supposed fight against it. Take your pick: MAGA, Reform, Labour; it’s the same path leading to the same outcome, only different justifications.
What degree of cognitive dissonance does it require to contend that the best way to protect ourselves against the worst excesses of the far right is to dilute — sorry “modernise” — the European Convention on Human Rights: a treaty drawn up in the wake of a world war and Nazi Holocaust to prevent future atrocities and ensure peace in Europe? How do you square that circle? Only Keir Starmer knows the answer.
Read more:
But let’s start across the Atlantic where the King of Cognitive Dissonance, Donald Trump — a billionaire who pitched his electoral tent on Freedom of Speech turf — wants to force foreign visitors to hand over their social media accounts for the last five years to prevent “the wrong people” entering the country.
By the wrong people, he........