Friends,
The major weapon of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime is fear that causes people to be intimidated into silence and submission.
The regime is using fear — of being deported, job loss, loss of federal contracts, loss of access to sources of news, of arrest and imprisonment — to intimidate potential critics.
This is what all tyrants do, but we are unaccustomed to it in the United States.
I want to share with you three rules for fighting tyrannical fear and intimidation, gleaned from discussions I’ve had with a number of people who have lived in repressive regimes.
1. If at all possible, do not give into it.
Fear works only if people are intimidated. Intimidation is effective only if people surrender to it.
I cannot presume to tell anyone how to balance their personal well-being against their obligations to the nation or the world. I’m in no position to suggest that anyone sacrifice their livelihood or freedom to make a point.
So if you’re a civil servant in the U.S. government, especially an attorney in the Justice Department, I can understand your fear that speaking out or refusing to follow Trump’s orders will get you fired. If you’re a journalist or editor, you may be justifiably fearful that if you report the truth you’ll be barred from Trump press briefings or may even lose your job.
Likewise, if you’re in America on a student visa or even hold a green card, you may be understandably reluctant to speak your mind now. Trump has threatened that the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University grad student who is a permanent resident of the United States and who peacefully spoke out against Netanyahu’s policies in Gaza, will be the first of “many to come.”
On the other hand, if you’re the president of Columbia University, you’re in a different position altogether. I can understand your concern that your institution will suffer loss of federal funds if you allow full freedom of speech on your campus, yet that doesn’t mean you should surrender to Trump’s tyranny. If you do not stand up to it, you and your institution and other American universities will sacrifice far more over the long term.
If you’re a Republican lawmaker, you have every reason to worry that if you vote against Trump, you’ll be primaried in the next election. But that doesn’t justify your silence in the face of Trump’s tyranny, either. What’s the point of being in politics if you have no principles?
If you’re a Democratic lawmaker, you might worry that if you speak out — as did Congressman Al Green during Trump’s address to Congress — you’ll be tagged by Trump as a radical “left-wing” troublemaker. Good! Make good trouble, as Congressman John Lewis used to say. Stand up and speak out! Americans want to know there’s a loud and vital Democratic opposition to Trump.
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