- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
She finds the whole idea absurd. To Prof Marci Shore, the notion that the Guardian, or anyone else, should want to interview her about the future of the US is ridiculous. She’s an academic specialising in the history and culture of eastern Europe and describes herself as a “Slavicist”, yet here she is, suddenly besieged by international journalists keen to ask about the country in which she insists she has no expertise: her own. “It’s kind of baffling,” she says.
In fact, the explanation is simple enough. Last month, Shore, together with her husband and fellow scholar of European history, Timothy Snyder, and the academic Jason Stanley, made news around the world when they announced that they were moving from Yale University in the US to the University of Toronto in Canada. It was not the move itself so much as their motive that garnered attention. As the headline of a short video op-ed the trio made for the New York Times put it, “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the US”.
Starkly, Shore invoked the ultimate warning from history. “The lesson of 1933 is: you get out sooner rather than later.” She seemed to be saying that what had happened then, in Germany, could happen now, in Donald Trump’s America – and that anyone tempted to accuse her of hyperbole or alarmism was making a mistake. “My colleagues and friends, they were walking around and saying, ‘We have checks and balances. So let’s inhale, checks and balances, exhale, checks and balances.’ I thought, my God, we’re like people on the Titanic saying, ‘Our ship can’t sink. We’ve got the best ship. We’ve got the strongest ship. We’ve got the biggest ship.’ And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.”
That’s a shit lesson to take from 33. My takeaway is don’t let the brown shirts win. I’m not running from my country with my tail between my legs.
Fascists can fuck off, in fact
707 millions just assembled to say just that.Edit: I didn’t think staying in my country of birth and fighting for freedom and decency would be such a hot button issue.
To all of you who felt the need to be condescending I’d just say tighten up and show some backbone. Real disappointing. So you may be shot and sent to a gulag. You wouldn’t be the first, probably not the last. Try not to let fear and righteousness dictate your feelings.
If you read the rest of the article, she addresses that. She doesn’t believe that she is personally brave enough to physically confront what is coming, so for her, the choice is get out now while she can and be vocal.
What a matter of fact way to express cowardice
Much better to be self aware of it and account for it, than to get yourself and others killed due to your false bravado.
It doesn’t take much bravery to stand in a crowd with hundreds or thousands of other people.
Lol, you think this is going to end with just calmly standing in a crowd?
Statistically if the crowd is big enough it should end. But I kinda think if Trump kicks the bucket or lets Steven Miller have any more power, that getting out with my family will be necessary.
Probably not, but that’s the most that’s been asked of this lady so far and she couldn’t even muster the courage to do that. Running away before you make any attempt to fight for all the people who made you who you are is some weak shit.
Lol she’s an academic who has undoubtedly contributed to the body of historical knowledge on the this topic and has written this article which will reach tens of thousands of people, but you’re calling her a coward who won’t help fight fascism… What have you done, exactly?
You’re right, I should move to Canada and tell you guys how to do stuff that I’m too afraid to do myself. That’s the most helpful thing that I could do.
You sound naive. She studies dictators and she grew up in a neighbourhood of holocaust survivors. Teachers and their students are already being taken by ICE and it may become harder for targeted groups to find safety. This is not a question of “standing in a crowd”.
I know what the situation is. Run away then if that’s your plan, see how that works out for everybody else. But then, if you’re the kind of person who would run then you never cared much for them to be begin with, or at least your care didn’t translate into meaningful action on their behalf which is the same thing from a functional perspective.
Again, being aware of your own limitations and doing what you can is preferable to faking it, and falling apart when it counts.
Not everyone can be a super tough guy like you surely are.
Eh, my 78 year old aunt who uses two canes to get around because she refuses to use a walker has been to a few different protests this year in the deep red state of West Virginia. I get what you’re saying about limitations and maybe we’ll reach that point sooner or later but I don’t think we’re at the run away to save yourself part yet unless you’re an immigrant or trans.
I also understand wanting to get out before shit goes sideways but again, I don’t think we’re there yet. Maybe I’m wrong but I hope not.
It’s not about being tough physically it’s about deciding not to run away. I’ve seen pictures of 100 year old men, blind people, and folks in wheelchairs at these protests. If they can do it then an able bodied middle aged woman can too. She’s choosing not to because she’s afraid and that is the definition of cowardice whether you like it or not.
As if uprooting your entire life and moving doesn’t take any form of bravery.
You can dress it up in whatever way you choose but leaving is running away and that’s explicitly the opposite of bravery.
What an armchair thing to say
I don’t think that’s true at all but even if it were, sitting in an armchair in America is more helpful than sitting in an armchair in Canada which is what this lady is doing.
It’s quite a silly thing to get all high and mighty about. You don’t have that person’s life or thoughts/feelings.
I don’t need to know anything about this person to know that leaving is the cowards choice. She’s telling everyone else who can’t leave that they aren’t as important and they have to sort this out without her. Don’t try to spin that as some sort of noble act. We win together or we lose apart. I don’t want to hear any lectures on history or morailty from people who would rather save themselves than help their fellow citizens.
when my jewish grandfather learned that he wasnt allowed to hold a job anymore he fled germany before ww2 and he begged his then fiance to come with him. she insisted that it will be fine and if and when things get bad she will join him in america, and if they didn’t he should go back to live with her in germany.
Want to know how that turned out for his fiance?
Is your grandfather’s survival any consolation to the 6 million Jews that died during the Holocaust? Could he have helped more of them survive by staying? I don’t know the answer to those questions but I do know that if that’s what we’re facing in America I would rather face it head on with my fellow citizens than hide away in another country watching it happen to them.
You feeling personally attacked here isn’t the person’s fault, who, btw, I am not saying is doing something noble. Just pointing out how weird it is that you’re acting this way about it.
You started this conversation by saying that I’m making armchair judgements about this person. If you understand how serious the situation is and you agree with what I’ve said about what our response should be then you should be annoyed with her for running away while preaching about the danger we’re in too. If my house is on fire don’t lecture me from a safe distance about how to spot the smoke earlier, grab a fucking bucket.
It didn’t sound high and mighty to me. She left a position of influence and (some small amount) of power just when shit is starting to get real. Fair weather patriot. Best of luck in Toronto. I’ll stay here with the hundreds of millions for whom leaving isn’t a viable option.
Uh ok
My sentiments exactly.
The brown shirts have the keys to the kingdom, and so there’s no easy way to get rid of them. By my count they’ve already won, and will be able to do a depressing amount of damage before anyone could hope to stop them. If you’re a vulnerable group who has the opportunity to leave and isn’t ready to die fighting, leaving is the safest bet.
That sounds cool if your objective is to collect likes on social media. However, her objective is to save herself and her family from what’s coming. As “an academic specialising in the history and culture of eastern Europe,” she knows very well what it is. Only an ignorant and arrogant prick could say what you said.
If all the good guys leave then you lose your country though
What if everyone just left Poland during ww2? There wouldn’t be a Poland today
Nah, the Polish resistance was slaughtered by the Soviets anyways:
Wikipedia
Poland remained occupied for 45 years after WW2 and was forcibly “shifted” to the West causing millions of Polish people to be deported from their homes in the East.
The best decision any Pole could have made for themselves, their family and even their country was to flee. You won’t do anything for Poland if you die as a slave in Siberia.
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
That is iam14andthisisdeep material.
I mean that’s certainly fair, but with the vast majority of America either supporting the fascists or dragging its feet (cue “we can’t give them an excuse to do a fascism!!!”) “fuck this shit I’m outta here” is, honestly, pretty valid.
From the numbers that I have seen spread through social media, they were saying 12.1 million people showed up for the No King protest.
Are you a professor in the field? No? Then fuck the fuck off.