Notes & Thoughts

I actually had little knowledge about the recent history of Turkey and it's descent into authoritarian rule. This book provides an excellent first hand experience of what that feels like and how it progresses.

It's different in style to most non-fiction books I read on politics and economics. It feels more journalistic. Less 'academic' and less analytical*. In some ways it felt like reading a dystopian novel. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But with rightwing ideology in place of aliens. As it spreads, people lose their humanity: empathy, morality, basic reasoning. And there’s nothing you can do to stop them. In this version of the story, it's you that becomes alienated as familiar social norms and structures are replaced.

"We no longer live in the world of Spartacus, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela or Bobby Sands, where the dignity of those suffering is recognised and the determination of their struggle eventually forces onlookers to intervene in the name of humanity. Our world is one where those who resist are mocked as 'attention whores', and where there is no longer the possibility of a noble martyr‘s death for those who are oppressed, instead only the likelihood of violation and disfigurement by internet trolls. The victim is not even labelled an 'enemy of the people', which one might at least wear as a badge of honour under a dictatorship, but is instead turned into a public joke." (Page 262)

At first, I felt dissatisfied with the relentless dystopian narrative. I didn't understand where we were going. I wanted to be told, at the end of each chapter, what we should do to stop it. But then, Erdogan has been in power for 22 years. And still is. And the rest of the world seems to be following suit. So maybe we don't have the answers yet. And maybe it's not that simple. Is anything ever that simple?

So what is this book trying to tell us? Well, first of all, it is telling us what the descent into authoritarianism looks and feels like. It is also telling those of us who think this is something new in our countries, that in fact it has already played out elsewhere. And many of the responses that people are making have already been tried and failed. So don't do the same and expect different outcomes. For example, don't assume that in your country nobody will go along with the new ideology. Don't assume that existing societal structures will be strong enough to protect you. And indeed, look at where the U.S. is at the moment.

By the way, this book was written in 2019. She warned us. We have been unable to prevent the spread of the far right. Many are making the same mistakes.

"...the tools they used were those adopted by many to expose the truth about such political figures: fact checking, holding him to account, promoting constructive journalism, and trying to embarrass Farage and wipe the grin off his face by calling him a liar and a xenophobe. … Their tactics were akin to playing chess against a pigeon, as someone once described debating evolution with a creationist: the pigeon will just knock over all the pieces and shit on the board, then depart, proudly claiming victory and leaving the mess behind for you to clean up“. (By the way, I think this is unfair to pigeons; they are much and unjustly maligned.)

“If one wants to change a Trump supporters mind, one should look for common ground or shared values. However, when vulgarity and ignorance become esteemed values, what do you do? How can you communicate with a person if he embraces his leaders hypocrisy and inconsistency as a tactic performed for the good of his people?“ (Page 69)

Ece does point to the cause. Neoliberalism and it's negative impact on society.

“The infantile political language of today which seems to be causing a regression across the entire political spectrum from right to left is not in fact reaction against the establishment but instead something that follows the ideological fault lines of the establishment that was created in the 80s. The only significant difference between the fore-runners and their successes - apart from the illusory economic boom that made the former look more upstanding than they actually were and the response to the flood of refugees that makes the latter look even more unpleasant than they actually are - is that today the voice of populist infantile politics is amplified through social media, multiplying the fairytales more than ever and allowing the ignorant to claim equality with the informed. They are therefore powerful enough this time around for there to be no limits to their attack on our capacity for political thought and basic reasoning. And we all know that they are definitely less concerned with manners.”

"Whatever the answer is, it ought to be clear to all of us that it does not include the luxury of not taking action, namely political action. Our concept of joy should be redefined to understand that collective action does not only make for a better world, but a fulfilled individual." (Page 278)

* I've watched an interview of Ece since reading the book and she said herself that she is not an academic. She is a journalist. And even more she is just a human being who cares. LINK

This book has made me think I should rewatch the films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan. He is one of my favourite directors and is Turkish. What are his views on Erdogan and the changes that have happened in Turkey? I've watched most of his films and yet only now, reading this book, do I get this clearer view on what has been happening in Turkey.