to clarify: life under authoritarians is often boring and normal for many people until it all of a sudden isn’t, and of course it’s that uncertainty that causes the corrosion.
Living under authoritarian regimes is both relatively boring and normal AND incredibly corrosive to the human soul. These things can absolutely co-exist.
This is why everyone needs to resist authoritarians, even people who privately assume they’ll be just fine.
In the days just after February ‘22, as Putin began to crack down on dissent, I saw a photograph of some graffiti (which I can’t seem to find again)—“First you didn’t care about politics—now, you’re cannon fodder”
