Content 21+ Stability is often touted as the crowning achievement of authoritarian rule. Crime rates drop, protests disappear, and society seems to function more smoothly. But ask yourself: is stability worth having if it’s built on fear?
Authoritarian stability isn’t the same as genuine peace. It’s enforced at gunpoint, with dissent silenced and creativity smothered. In the long term, this rigidity makes societies brittle, unable to adapt to change or … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ As Russia devolves more and more into a ball-and-chain dystopia with ‘foreign agents’ apparently scattered everywhere spreading their bile and chewing away the very intestines of ‘the Motherland’, the patriotic authorities are in hot pursuit, and the Duma is working like a set of overactive bowels. Indeed it is at the level of intestine and bowels that present day Russia operates. And there are … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ The fabled writer Toni Morrison (1931-2019) once published a book called The Bluest Eye. It is a baleful account of the destruction of a black family (partly the fault of society and partly self-inflicted) which centers around a girl named Pecola Breedlove who eventually goes insane, imagining that her eyes have been changed to the color blue – always her dream. … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ A long time ago I had the pleasure of reading George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language.” It’s still considered such a classic that it remains anthologized and I have brought it to the attention of many of my students. Orwell (author of 1984 and Animal Farm if you –I shudder to think – have never heard of him or his books) in … Read the rest
Content 21+ History’s dance with authoritarianism is neither new nor surprising—it’s a grim ritual that unfolds with chilling predictability. When the foundations of society crack under the weight of economic collapse, social unrest, and collective humiliation, the stage is set for ideologies once relegated to the fringes to take center stage. But let’s not kid ourselves—authoritarianism doesn’t emerge from thin air. It’s built brick by brick on the frustrations, fears, … Read the rest
