Living in the COVID World ... and Beyond #57: Autocracy and Resistance

 Autocracy seems to be becoming quite popular around the world.   By autocracy, I mean a system of government in which one person has absolute control.   Maybe no country is a perfect autocracy these days … but many countries certainly seem far closer to autocracy than to democracy.

Some characteristics of autocratic rule are:

·      Little or no input into decisions by anyone other than the autocrat,

·      The autocratic leader makes almost all the decisions,

·      Societies under autocrats tend to be highly structured and rigid,

·      There are clear rules, and those rules are meant to be followed, and

·      Very little to no room for dissent.

It seems that in the United States we are moving in the direction of autocracy as described above.   How far we move in this direction is yet to be determined.

I read recently that autocracy functions best when the people are exhausted, disoriented, isolated, scared, and feel powerless.   I think this helpful to understand because it points us in a direction about what we can do to resist autocracy.

Resisting Autocracy

What exhausts us?   I imagine that varies for each of us.   I know I have felt exhausted reading and listening to analyses of the recent US election.   So, I stopped doing that … and I had more energy and enthusiasm for my daily challenges.   What exhausts you and what steps can you take to get out of whatever cycle of activity causes that exhaustion?

I think we need to stay connected to reality, that there are both hard things happening in the world and that there are good things happening as well.  I have been searching out the good news, no matter how local and no matter how small, as a counterbalance to the oppressive and destructive things happening around the world.

Maybe the most obvious form of resistance is staying connected with each other.   Let’s reach for each other even more deeply than before.   We need each other.  I am reminded of that old refrain: divided we fall, united we stand.   I think this is true in our personal relationships as well as in organizing and political activity.   Let’s build alliances more actively and courageously.   We might not agree with each other on everything but let’s find the common ground that we have and stand together there united.

Fear and powerless thrive when we are disconnected and isolated.   They dissipate and we are more easily able to act when we know that we are connected and that there are others with similar thoughts and feelings as we have.   There is a common facilitation tool that I use when I am leading meetings on contentious issues, and I want to create support for people speaking their truths and sharing their points of views.   I will often divide people into smaller groups, dyads or triads, so that they first have the chance to speak in a smaller group where it is safer to say what they think and to explore whether others feel similarly.    Invariably, after the small group break-out, people come back into the larger group more able to express themselves because they know that they are not alone.   The support they receive in the small group empowers people to speak up in the larger group, overcoming fears with the knowledge that they are not alone in their perspectives.

If we are to resist autocracy effectively, we will need to repeatedly challenge our exhaustion, disorientation, isolation, fears, and feelings of powerlessness.   What methods for challenging autocracy have you practiced, or do you intend to practice?