echoes of Soviet practices in the U.S.
Seeing Red in America’s Totalitarian Habits
A warning against groupthink is useful. But a warning like Mr. Satter’s, solely against groupthink on the left, is only a warning against the left styled as a defense of liberal norms. Today’s right doesn’t like dissent, either. For many Republican politicians, accepting the election result would have “ended any hope of a career,” to use Mr. Satter’s words. Talk about an “attempt to impose a deluded version of reality.” The right’s leader cultivates a personality cult and campaigns against “enemies of the people.” These are core Soviet practices.
Want to be anti-Soviet? Fight all bad Soviet things. Especially in your own political tribe, where you have street cred. But hanging bogeyman labels on opponents? That’s such a Soviet thing to do.
A warning against groupthink is useful. But a warning like Mr. Satter’s, solely against groupthink on the left, is only a warning against the left styled as a defense of liberal norms. Today’s right doesn’t like dissent, either. For many Republican politicians, accepting the election result would have “ended any hope of a career,” to use Mr. Satter’s words. Talk about an “attempt to impose a deluded version of reality.” The right’s leader cultivates a personality cult and campaigns against “enemies of the people.” These are core Soviet practices.
Want to be anti-Soviet? Fight all bad Soviet things. Especially in your own political tribe, where you have street cred. But hanging bogeyman labels on opponents? That’s such a Soviet thing to do.