Hacker News with Generative AI: Authoritarianism

Harvard professor offers a grim assessment of American democracy (npr.org)
Steven Levitsky studies how healthy democracies can slip into authoritarianism. He says the Trump administration has already done grave damage: "We are no longer living in a democratic regime."

Politics, Democracy, Authoritarianism, USA

15 points by rbanffy 3 days ago | 0 comments

Disruptors Don't Obey in Advance (mattruby.substack.com)
“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”-Timothy Snyder in On Tyranny

Politics, Authoritarianism, History, Social Commentary

4 points by rubymatt 10 days ago | 0 comments

Trump's War on Education (chrishedges.substack.com)
Trump’s assault on education comes out of the playbook used by all authoritarian regimes.

Politics, Education, Authoritarianism

11 points by chmaynard 27 days ago | 0 comments

Surrendering to Authoritarianism (chrishedges.substack.com)
Liberal institutions, including universities, traditionally surrender without a fight to the dictates of autocrats. Ours are no exception.

Politics, Authoritarianism, Liberalism, Institutions

36 points by chmaynard 32 days ago | 27 comments

The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide (verfassungsblog.de)

Politics, Authoritarianism, Government, Survival Guides

220 points by Tomte 51 days ago | 128 comments

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 72 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 73 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 103 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 144 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 170 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 171 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.