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Jump to navigationJump to searchHow to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship by Ece Temelkuran (view source)
Revision as of 10:29, 16 April 2019
, 10:29, 16 April 2019no edit summary
There's a soundtrack to what's happening and even having read Temelkuran's book I'm conscious that the words creep into my mind. It's the phrase ''it couldn't happen here''. People said it on the day of the Brexit vote. American friends said it as Trump supporters chanted ''build that wall'', but he was still elected. Wherever 'here' is, we can no longer be content that ''it'' won't happen. We must be aware of the signs and we must act before it's too late as nationalism isn't an option which will be presented to us at the ballot box, but a movement which creeps into our lives insidiously.
The writing is impassioned, but with stunning clarity of thought . It's eloquent and very readable: frighteningly so, in fact. I ceased to be reassured that Trump is a clown and surely can't last, or that Boris Johnson is a buffoon who surely could never be elected as I read about why they do what they do. There is method here: diversionary tactics to cover a real purpose. Perhaps the main points which I took away from the book are that one should never underestimate an opponent, or believe that just because groups see themselves as ''real people'' and infantilise political debate, they do not have considerable power. As for how the book left me feeling, I'll confess that it was 'depressed'. The book is stronger on the symptoms of the disease than on the cure and I felt impotent to help the country which I'm leaving to my grandchildren.
I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.
