Simple acts of courage

Happy 2025, readers.

On pondering a reflection to kick things off following the trail of erosion over the last year, it seems that there’s nothing more important than using your voice in an environment that purports to enshrine freedom while systematically dismantling it.

I am reading How Fascism Works, by Jason Stanley, and among the many quotes I am highlighting as I read, these struck me today as being relevant and increasingly recognisable to the place we now find ourselves.

“Fascist politicians characteristically decry corruption in the state they seek to take over, which is bizarre, given that fascist politicians themselves are invariably vastly more corrupt than those they seek to supplant or defeat.”

“Fascist politics transforms the news from a conduit of information and reasoned debate into a spectacle with the strongman as the star.”

“Fascist politics can dehumanize minority groups even when an explicitly fascist state does not arise.”

“What is most terrifying about these rhetorical divides is that it is typical of fascist movements to attempt to transform myths about “them” into reality through social policy.”

“Fascist politics does not necessarily lead to an explicitly fascist state, but it is dangerous nonetheless. Fascist politics includes many distinct strategies: the mythic past, propaganda, anti-intellectualism, unreality, hierarchy, victimhood, law and order, sexual anxiety, appeals to the heartland, and a dismantling of public welfare and unity.”

“Oppression is a powerful motivation for action, but the questions of who is wielding it when, under what content and against whom, remain eternally crucial.”

From a review of the book:

“What if a regime, for example, used a dismal us-versus-them divide in national politics to destroy faith in institutions capable of containing its power – elections, an independent judiciary, the public forum – thereby eliminating checks on its own self-enriching schemes?”

“Publicizing false charges of corruption while engaging in corrupt practices is typical of fascist politics, and anti-corruption campaigns are frequently at the heart of fascist political movements.”

“The targets are leftists, minorities, labor unions, and anyone or any institution that isn’t glorified in the fascist narrative. And even if you’re not in any of those groups, you have to protect those who are, and you have to protect them from the very beginning. Simple acts of courage early on will save you impossible acts of courage later.”

On that note, some submission deadlines are rapidly coming up.

7 Jan: Treaty Principles Bill.

Submit here.

Overview here:

13 Jan: Regulatory Standards Bill.

Submit here.

Overview here.

Note, you can also email your submission directly to RSBconsultation@regulation.govt.nz

I’ll leave you with some favourite quotes and potential themes for the year, from Rebecca Solnit:

“Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act.”

“Inside the word "emergency" is "emerge"; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.“