Hacker News with Generative AI: Authoritarianism

The Path to American Authoritarianism (foreignaffairs.com)
Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference. Many of the politicians, pundits, media figures, and business leaders who viewed Trump as a threat to democracy eight years ago now treat those concerns as overblown—after all, democracy survived his first stint in office. In 2025, worrying about the fate of American democracy has become almost passé.

Politics, United States, Authoritarianism, Democracy

77 points by pjmlp 8 days ago | 37 comments

Resist Authoritarianism by Refusing to Obey in Advance (2017) (lithub.com)
Do not obey in advance.

Politics, Resistance, Authoritarianism

293 points by pabs3 10 days ago | 198 comments

Cory Doctorow: Tech's benevolent-dictator-for-life to authoritarian pipeline (pluralistic.net)
Silicon Valley's "authoritarian turn" is hard to miss: tech bosses have come out for autocrats like Trump, Orban, Milei, Bolsonaro, et al, and want to turn San Francisco into a militia-patrolled apartheid state operated for the benefit of tech bros:

Politics, Technology, Authoritarianism, Silicon Valley

11 points by moritzruth 39 days ago | 2 comments

Against 'Free Market Authoritarianism' (isonomiaquarterly.com)
Can a ‘free market’ version of authoritarianism — or ‘liberal authoritarianism’ for those outside the U.S. context and discourse — exist and serve as a viable alternative system to liberal democracy?

Politics, Authoritarianism, Economics, Liberal Democracy

15 points by brandonlc 80 days ago | 10 comments

On Tyranny – Lessons from the Twentieth Century (archive.org)
A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America's turn towards authoritarianism.

History, Fascism, Politics, Authoritarianism

14 points by gooseus 107 days ago | 0 comments

The Reasons Authoritarianism Is Growing – and How to Reverse It (scottsantens.com)
It takes all kinds. Humanity would have never made it this far without a multitude of people with a wide diversity of personality types and preferences. It is our individual differences wherein lies our strength as a society, but my belief in the truth of that statement is also in polar opposition to those who disagree with individuality and diversity and prefer oneness and sameness.

Politics, Authoritarianism, Social Commentary

41 points by 2noame 107 days ago | 82 comments

It happened there: how democracy died in Hungary (vox.com)
A new kind of authoritarianism is taking root in Europe — and there are warning signs for America.