Scared of Trump and the changing global order? Let the Anti-Nihilist Institute help!
Hi.
We are a collective of writers, scholars, journalists, lawyers, activists, mental health specialists, and other smart people who like silly titles and have come together with a simple goal in mind:
We want to help others resist disinformation, oppression, personal and political gaslighting, and the newly popular politics of hate and oppression — while, at the same time, staying as safe and happy as it is possible.
We believe in a pro-human approach to politics. We believe that the humanities can be especially helpful in reestablishing belief in basic facts and aiding resistance against propaganda. Let’s face it, if people read more Shakespeare — and actually bothered to understand his ideas about human nature — a lot of stupid mistakes could be avoided.
We also believe that hate and oppression in policy should be framed in terms of abuse. We believe that listening to survivors of personal and political abuse is crucial in the struggle against authoritarianism.
After all, if you want to know what the intimate violence of authoritarianism is like — just ask a battered spouse.
We believe that Donald J. Trump is an abuser and pathological narcissist. We also believe that he is, unfortunately, only part of the growing problem of erosion of democracy and free speech in the Western world.
Many of us have spent years reporting on places like Russia, China, and the Middle East. We believe that the time of American exceptionalism is over. We believe that now is the time for Americans to learn from the experience of other countries with authoritarian and semi-authoritarian governments.
Most importantly, we believe this:
This is no time to sit on the fence. This new era we find ourselves in demands that we make choices about who we are, and who we can be.
Now is the time to resist abuse — in the home, on the street, and in the halls of power. Now is the time to let go of the illusion that things “will turn out OK, probably.” They still might — but only with your active participation, with holding your elected officials accountable, with helping dispel hateful myths and propaganda.
We can’t take narcissists and abusers at their word, or accept anything they do at face value. We have to look deeper — at language, at context, at history, at legislation, at the market, at everything that has landed our world in its current predicament.
We want to use our experience to help you to not only survive the Trump abomination… err, administration and the political instability to come, but to take care of yourself along the way. Sorry to be so blunt, but why should abusers in power screw with your life? Let’s not normalize authoritarianism, propaganda, “post-factual statements” (i.e. lying), witch hunts, and other forms of abuse and oppression.
Oh, and are you sick and tired of “financial bootstrapping” nonsense? Good. Because now is the time to pull ourselves up by our moral bootstraps.
Stay tuned for more.
Sincerely,
Natalia Antonova (writer) & Anna Lind-Guzik (legal historian)
Co-founders of the Anti-Nihilist Institute
P.S. Our Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoToNihilism
Originally published December 12, 2016.
