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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 09:13, 6 October 2020
, 09:13, 6 October 2020no edit summary
A little while ago a friend asked me if I thought that we were living through what in years to come would be discussed by A level history students when faced with the question ''Discuss the factors which led to...'' I agreed that she was right and wasn't certain whether it was a good or bad thing that we didn't know what all 'this' was leading to. I think now that I do know. We are in danger of losing democracy and whilst it's a flawed system I can't think of a better one, particularly as the 'benevolent dictator' is as rare as hen's teeth.
Ece Temelkuran is one of Europe's most prominent political thinkers. If you are on the right you won't agree that she's well-regarded and if you're on the Turkish right -wing then you'll probably believe that she should be in prison. She's not ''watched'' Turkey slide into dictatorship under Recep Tayyip Erdogan with rigged elections, cronyism and the imprisoning of those who oppose him: she was involved in the resistance and has given us what amounts a field guide to the mechanisms of the far -right populism which is sweeping the globe. We're shown what happened in Turkey and we see the parallels as they happen in a wider context.
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.
I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.
[[21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari]] would shelve neatly alongside ''How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship''. To do the reverse trip, have a look at [[From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp]]. You might also appreciate [[The Complex by Nick Turse]]. {{amazontext|amazon=0008294011}}
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[[Category:Autobiography]] [[Category:History]]
