This is a time when people have been drawing lessons from history - mainly on how to resist authoritarianism.
But there are another set of lessons that people can draw on as well:
how to live under authoritarianism
When I was first thinking of this post, the time period that came to mind was Germany in the 1930s/40s, under the notorious G_s t_p_, who have shaped what is being done by such forces of t_r r_r now in so many places, but there was also life under Stalin in the USSR (or under Putin in Russia), and any of a number of South American dictatorships and repressive regimes after World War (part) Two - and some of these nations, or offshoots from them, are still, or are again, repressive.
The point about that is that a range of aspects to consider:
active overt resistance
active but covert resistance
passive resistance (slowing things down - especially responses to enquiries by any organisation which is similar to the G_s t_p_, etc)
surviving because doing so is a thumb in the eye of the oppressor
surviving so one can attest afterwards to what life was like - possibly in trials
ensuring one’s loved ones survive (a particularly significant issue for those who have vulnerable dependents, such as children or the disabled/ill/elderly)
taking survival to the level of living, which is an even bigger thumb in the eye of the oppressor, but runs the risks that go with being noticed by the oppressor
Which ones - which combination - of these is best varies with personal circumstances and capabilities, and with what oppressors are doing at that time/place. It is an oft delicate balancing act, and those looking in from the outside have no right, let alone adequate knowledge, to judge others, but we can all provide mutual aid and inspiration - while being aware of snitches, who have been around for millennia.
It is, however, worth being aware of these various facets, and that there may be useful lessons from history.
One such set of lessons is in Maria Ressa’s “How to Stand Up to a Dictator” (see this review, available at Penguin, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Amazon), based on her experiences resisting tyranny in the Philippines (don’t make the mistake of only focusing on the USA, if you do not live in the USA).
There are no doubt other examples, and I will add more books if I can get time & energy (and knowledge of them), but see also this, this, this, and this, from World War (part) Two, this, this, and this, from the USSR, and this, this, this, and (for background) this & this & this, from South America, this from India (but also note this), this, from Russia, and this (database indicates historical successes - see also this).
PS - coincidentally, I just came across this:
“After 3 years of war, Ukrainian business leaders share their lessons on survival” https://theconversation.com/after-3-years-of-war-ukrainian-business-leaders-share-their-lessons-on-survival-249145
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).#PsychicABetterWorld and may all that I do be of value and actively BPM used for and by the nonphysical BPM
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