Freedom Requires Truth: The Antidote to Racism & Fascism
“Truth is the heart of liberal democracy. The two ideals of liberal democracy are liberty and equality. If your belief system is shot through with lies, you’re not free… Truth is required to act freely. Freedom requires knowledge, and in order to act freely in the world, you need to know what the world is and know what you’re doing. You only know what you’re doing if you have access to the truth. So freedom requires truth, and so to smash freedom you must smash truth.”
(Jason Stanley)
After another day of reading about the continuing corruption, lies, unnecessary death, illusion and loss in the country, in the state, in the world, we were called to look into the definition of fascism.
Wikipedia defines it as:
Fascism is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition, and strong regimentation of society and of the economy, which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.
Dictionary.com says:
a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
and good ole Merriam-Webster claims:
a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
If those definitions do not sound exactly like most of this country, you might need to to do some more research.
The quote at the top, by Jason Stanley, from their book on fascism, is part of the antidote to fascism… liberty, equality and truth.
at the end of these long, confusing, often grief stricken rage inducing days, let us not forget that we are the antidote. We are here for truth, liberty and equality.
