Autocracy Quotes

“This is the time we have to walk stepping on the storm.”
― Suman Pokhrel

“I've never understood America,"said the king.
"Neither do we, sir. You might say we have two governments, kind of overlapping. First we have the elected government. It's Democratic or Republican, doesn't make much difference, and then there's corporation government."
"They get along together, these governments?"
"Sometimes," said Tod. "I don't understand it myself. You see, the elected government pretends to be democratic, and actually it is autocratic. The corporation governments pretend to be autocratic and they're all the time accusing the others of socialism. They hate socialism."
"So I have heard," said Pippin.
"Well, here's the funny thing, sir. You take a big corporation in America, say like General Motors or Du Pont or U.S. Steel. The thing they're most afraid of is socialism, and at the same time they themselves are socialist states."
The king sat bolt upright. "Please?" he said.
"Well, just look at it, sir. They've got medical care for employees and their families and accident insurance and retirement pensions, paid vacations -- even vacation places -- and they're beginning to get guaranteed pay over the year. The employees have representation in pretty nearly everything, even the color they paint the factories. As a matter of fact, they've got socialism that makes the USSR look silly. Our corporations make the U.S. Government seem like an absolute monarchy. Why, if the U.S. government tried to do one-tenth of what General Motors does, General Motors would go into armed revolt. It's what you might call a paradox sir.”
― John Steinbeck, The Short Reign of Pippin IV

“Vladimir Putin pledges no allegiance to to the democratic articles of faith, but he does not explicitly renounce democracy. He disdains Western values while professing to identify with the West. He doesn’t care what the State Department puts in next year’s human rights report, because he has yet to pay a political price in his own country for the sins reported in prior years. He tells bald lies with a straight face, and when guilty of aggression, blames the victim. He has convinced many, apparently including the American president, that he is a master strategist, a man of strength and will. Confined to Russia, these facts would be sobering, but Putin, like Mussolini nine decades ago, is watched carefully in other regions by leaders who are tempted to follow in his footsteps. Some already are.”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

“Given the right conditions, any society can turn against democracy. Indeed, if history is anything to go by, all of our societies eventually will.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“You do not have to think very hard to figure out what happens to a democratic society (more accurately a democratic republic) when long-standing interpretations of the 'rules of law' are mangled to reflect the personal desires of a handful of extremely wealthy people…”
― Aberjhani, Democratic Dilemmas and Divine Inspiration: On leadership and the fate of freedom in America

“Durable political systems ultimately rely on institutions, not individuals.”
― Gideon Rachman, The Age of the Strongman: How the Cult of the Leader Threatens Democracy around the World

“After Tony [Judt]'s death, in August 2010, I toured to discuss the book we had written together, which he had entitle 'Thinking the Twentieth Century.' I realized as I traveled around the United States that its subject had been forgotten all too well. In hotel rooms, I watched Russian television toy with the traumatic American history of race, suggesting that Barack Obama had been born in Africa. It struck me as odd that the American entertainer Donald Trump picked up the theme not long thereafter.”
― Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

“THE BURNING OF THE BOOKS

When the Regime commanded that books with harmful knowledge
Should be publicly burned and on all sides
Oxen were forced to drag cartloads of books
To the bonfires, a banished
Writer, one of the best, scanning the list of the
Burned, was shocked to find that his
Books had been passed over. He rushed to his desk
On wings of wrath, and wrote a letter to those in power.
Burn me! he wrote with flying pen, burn me! Haven't my books
Always reported the truth? And here you are
Treating me like a liar! I command you:
Burn me!”
― Bertolt Brecht

“But many of the propagandists of Autocracy, Inc., have learned from the mistakes of the twentieth century. They don't offer their fellow citizens a vision of utopia, and they don't inspire them to build a better world. Instead, they teach people to be cynical and passive, because there is no better world to build. Their goal is to persuade people to mind their own business, stay out of politics, and never hope for a democratic alternative: Our state may be corrupt, but everyone else is corrupt too. You may not like our leader, but the others are worse. You may not like our society, but at least we are strong and the democratic world is weak, degenerate, divided, dying.”
― Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.

“From the early stages of his campaign and right into the Oval Office, Donald Trump has spoken harshly about the institutions and principles that make up the foundation of open government. In the process, he has systematically degraded political discourse in the United States, shown an astonishing disregard for facts, libeled his predecessors, threatened to “lock up” political rivals, referred to mainstream journalists as “the enemy of the American people,” spread falsehoods about the integrity of the U.S. electoral process, touted mindlessly nationalistic economic and trade policies, vilified immigrants and the countries from which they come, and nurtured a paranoid bigotry toward the followers of one of the world’s foremost religions.

To officials overseas who have autocratic tendencies, these outbursts are catnip. Instead of challenging anti-democratic forces, Trump is a comfort to them--a provider of excuses.”
― Madeleine K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning

“[W]e made the mistake of assuming that there is something inevitable about democracy - you know, that it's a - you don't really have to do anything. If you just sit still, it will come because it's the natural way that human beings are. And, you know, we forgot about, first of all, how turbulent our own democracy has been over 200 years, and we also forgot about the deep appeal of autocracy and the power of extremism.

You know, there are people - there is a part of every society that's deeply bothered by rapid change - that dislikes - you know, whether it's the election of Obama or whether it's racial integration or whether it's rapid economic change - you know, that dislikes change, wants it to stop, dislikes political strife, wants it to end and prefers to be within a homogenous movement where everybody's united. It's funny - there's a kind of deep human desire for unity, and this is what autocrats see and intuitively understand and why some of them have been able to hold power.”
― Anne Applebaum

“So I just think that the reason why we're so susceptible to autocracy now is that we're no longer telling ourselves this positive story of the nation. And I think Trump was brilliant in this way. He told us very divisive, anxiety- and fear-riddled view of the nation-state. But what most Americans don't understand is that historically, they've really gravitated towards that view. Historically, we gravitate towards the anxiety and the fear more so than this progressive notion, what Reagan called us, a city on a hill.”
― Peniel E. Joseph

“If it happens, the fall of liberal democracy in our own time will not look as it did in the 1920s or 1930s. But it will still require a new elite, a new generation of clercs, to bring it about. The collapse of an idea of the West, or of what is sometimes called "the Western liberal order," will need thinkers, intellectuals, journalists, bloggers, writers, and artists to undermine our current values, and then to imagine the new system to come.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“Not surprisingly, historically speaking, dictators have always despised the use of humor, precisely because they recognize that their hold over people is ultimately fragile, based on force and lies, and humor undermines their rule.”
― Gad Saad, The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life

“Thinking citizens are no good to democracy,
either you obey blind or be branded a terrorist.
Either you hold your mouth, mind and backbone,
or be jailed as an anarchist.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper

“We are the last generation of this world living in a democracy. Next generations will be living in brutal fascism, autocracy, and slavery of corporates
The only reason they will hate us !!!”
― Mohammed Zaki Ansari, "Zaki's Gift Of Love"

“Amantes Assemble Sonnet 99

Rise, revolt and roar out loud,
No more pleading in front of prejudice!
Breathe, burn and brave out loud,
No more bearing in front of malice!

Dream, dare and dance out loud,
No more dangling as docile doormat!
Heave, hold and help out loud,
No more retreat in front of cold updraught!

Fall, fix and forge out loud,
No more settling as the forgotten figures!
Grow, glow, and break out loud,
No more groveling at the feet of bloodsuckers!

Only antidote to oppression is civilian unsubmission.
When the children go astray, it’s time for parental intervention.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Amantes Assemble: 100 Sonnets of Servant Sultans

“Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller”
― George Orwell, 1984

“When the president theanthropize himself in matters leadership and governance and takes the constitution and its guardians secondary to his decisions, the chief Justice should assume the role of the deicide of the alloyed beast. If he shows signs of the faint-hearted, the judiciary firewalls become weak to not withstand the threats posed by the executive thus turning into the executive's de facto corporation. This is how autocracy is midwived!”
― Njau Kihia

“Whenever a politician secretly dreams of autocracy, you'll hear them shout a lot about preserving the culture and tradition.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Tum Dunya Tek Millet: Greatest Country on Earth is Earth

“Truth is anti-fragile. It is not brittle. It does not shatter into a million pieces because of an -offensive and hurtful- joke. An individual with a strong personhood can laugh at others (in a playful manner) and laugh at himself. Humor is a test of anti-fragility and non-brittleness in a person and in a society. A society that can’t laugh at others and at itself in a good-humored way is on its way out.”
― Gad Saad, The Saad Truth about Happiness: 8 Secrets for Leading the Good Life

“And that lump of concrete, she belatedly realised, had been a fragment of the Berlin Wall. Hence its presence in the O.B.'s study. Much of his life had been dedicated to bringing that wall down, or that was how it appeared in retrospect. Perhaps it had simply been dedicated to fighting those who'd put it up, the wall itself being no more than a marker of which side he'd been on. Given a different birthplace, he might have been equally happy resisting the values of the west. Either way, at the end of the long road travelled, that chunk had come to rest on his bookshelf, symbolic of a temporary victory. Because history was cyclical, of course, and more walls would be built, and there'd always be those who hoped it would be better on one side than the other, and die attempting to find out. And in the longer run those walls would fall too, along with the despots who'd built them, crushed by the bricks they'd stacked so high. Walls couldn't last.”
― Mick Herron, Slough House

“Sonnet 1984

Government IDs are just ankle monitors, issued
to tag citizens like dogs, or I should say, apes.
There can be governments without constitution,
but there is no government without surveillance.

When you elect a so-called representative,
you're officially signing your life to them.
Don't be naive enough to think otherwise,
and then yell about human rights violation.

Violation of citizen rights is right of the government,
it's the unspoken rule of the handbook of democracy.
Once in a blue moon you may get a benevolent government,
but 9 times out of 10 you'll end up under an autocracy.

A freethinking citizen is contradiction in terms,
no good to the grand design of democratic dictatorship.
Democracy in books is, for the people, by the people,
democracy on street is rule of the apes in a land of sheep.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“Democracy in books is, for the people, by the people, democracy on street is rule of the apes in a land of sheep.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“I don't approve of mob rule, but when the people blow their top, billionaires become bum within days, and presidents become tramp.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“Their bonds with one another, and with their friends in the democratic world, are cemented not through ideals but through deals—deals designed to take the edge off sanctions, to exchange surveillance technology, to help one another get rich.”
― Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

“Kleptocracy and autocracy go hand in hand, reinforcing each other but also undermining any other institutions that they touch. The real estate agents who don't ask too many questions in Sussex or Hampshire, the factory owners eager to unload failing businesses in Warren, the bankers in Sioux Falls happy to accept mystery deposits from mystery clients—all of them help undermine the rule of law in their own countries and around the world.”
― Anne Applebaum, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World

“এরা কে? তার মানে, অনেক কাল আগেকার মানুষও কি মিছিলে যোগ দিয়েছে? ঐ তো, মিছিলের মাঝখানে ইসলাম খাঁর আমলের খাটো-ধুতি-পরা ঢাকাবাসী! এমনকি তারো আগে চালের বস্তা বোঝাই নৌকা বেয়ে যারা সোনারগাঁও যাতায়াত করতো তারাও এসেছে। বাঙলা বাজার, তাঁতীবাজারের মানুষ লুপ্ত-খালের হিম হৃদপিণ্ড থেকে উঠে এসেছে? ঐ তো ইব্রাহিম খাঁর আমলে শাহজাদা খসরুর সঙ্গে সংঘর্ষে নিহত পাগড়ি-পরা সেপাইরা। শায়েস্তা খাঁর টাকায়-আট-মন-চালের আমলে না-খেয়ে-মরা মানুষ দেখে ওসমান আঁতকে ওঠে। ৩০০ বছর ধরে তাদের খাওয়া নাই- কালো চুলের তরঙ্গ উড়িয়ে তারা এগিয়ে চলে। মোগলের হাতে মার-খাওয়া, মগের হাতে মার-খাওয়া, কোম্পানীর বেনেদের হাতে মার-খাওয়া - সব মানুষ না এলে কি মিছিল এত বড়ো হয়? রেসকোর্সের কালীবাড়ির ইটের শুকনা পড়ত খুলে খাঁড়া হাতে নেমে এসেছে মারাঠা পুরোহিত, মজনু শাহের ফকিররা এসেছে, ঐ তো বুড়ো আঙুল-কাটা মুষ্ঠির ঘাই ছুঁড়তে ছুঁড়তে যাচ্ছে মসলিন তাঁতী, তাদের কালো কালো খালি গা রোদে ঝলসায়। ৪০০০ টাকা দামের জামদানী-বানানো তাঁতীদের না-খাওয়া হাডডিসার উদোম শরীর আজ সোজা হেঁটে চলেছে। সায়েবদের হাতে গুলিবিদ্ধ বাবুবাজার মসজিদের ইমাম মোয়াজ্জিন মুসল্লিরা চলেছে, বিড়বিড় করে আয়াত পড়ার বদলে তারা আজ হুঙ্কার দিচ্ছে, 'বৃথা যেতে দেবো না!' লালমুখো সাহেবদের লেলিয়ে-দেওয়া নবাব আবদুল গনি-রূপলাল মোহিনীমোহনের শ্বাদন্তের কামড়ে-ক্ষতবিক্ষত লালবাগ কেল্লার সেপাইরা আসে, ভিক্টোরিয়া পার্কের পামগাছ থেকে গলায় দড়ি ছিঁড়ে নেমে আসে মীরাটের সেপাই, বেরিলির সেপাই, স্বন্দীপ-সিরাজগঞ্জ-গোয়ালন্দের সেপাই। না হে, তাতেও কুলায় না। যুগান্তর অনুশীলনের বেনিয়ান ও ধুতি-পরা মাতৃভক্ত যুবকেরা আসে, তাদের মাঝখানে কলতাবাজারে নিহত ছেলে ২টিকে আলাদা করে চেনা যায়। নারিন্দার পুলের তলা থেকে ধোলাই খালের রক্তাক্ত ঢেউ মাথায় নিয়ে চলে আসে সোমেন চন্দ। ঐ তো বরকত! মাথার খুলি উড়ে গেছে, দেখে একটু ভয় পেলেও ওসমান সামলে ওঠে। এত মানুষ! নতুন পানির উজান স্রোতে ঢাকার অতীত বর্তমান সব উথলে উঠেছে আজ, ঢাকা আজ সকাল-দুপুর-বিকাল-রাত্রি বিস্মৃত, তার পূর্ব-পশ্চিম-উত্তর দক্ষিন নাই, সপ্তদশ-অষ্টাদশ-উনবিংশ-বিংশ শতাব্দীর সকল ভেদচিহ্ন আজ লুপ্ত। সীমাহীন কাল সীমাহীন স্থান অধিকারে জন্য ঢাকা আজ একাগ্রচিত্ত। ওসমানের বুক কাঁপে; এই বিশাল প্রবাহের সঙ্গে সে কতোদূর যেতে পারবে? কতোদূর? গোলক পাল লেনের মুখে কলের নিচে কাঁপতে-থাকা কলসি যেমন পানিতে ভরে স্থির হয়, আমাদের ওসমান গনির বুকটাও দেখতে দেখতে পূর্ণ হলো, এই অবিচ্ছিল স্রোতধারার ক্ষুদ্রতম ১টি কণা হয়েও তো সেই এই হৃৎপিন্ডে তাপ বোধ করতে পারছে। তাই বা কম কিসে? ভরা-বুকে মুষ্টিবধ হাত তুলে সে হুঙ্কার দেয়, 'বৃথা যেতে দেবো না'।”
― Akhteruzzaman Elias, চিলেকোঠার সেপাই

“Facebook is an autocracy of one.”
― Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

“Reason is to reichs what phenyl is to floor.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper