Tag Archives: authoritarianism

In a Dante-esque Prison of His Own Making

By Robin Bates | Published: April 18, 2024

Trump’s suffering the the Manhattan courtroom is his own version of Dante’s Inferno.

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Beware Freeing an Authoritarian Gulliver

By Robin Bates | Published: March 27, 2024

Dreams of a strongman freeing himself from Lilliputian ropes is a dangerous fantasy, Swift explains.

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Alexei Navalny as Harry Potter?

By Robin Bates | Published: February 18, 2024

Some Russians saw Navalny, recently killed by Putin, as a Harry Potter “boy who lived.” That dream is gone but others live on.

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Are You an Antigone or an Ismene?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 21, 2024

In an essay calling Chinese activist Chow Hang Tung “the Antigone of Hong Kong,” Wendy Gan compares herself to Ismene.

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Nikki Haley, a Minor Character in 1984

By Robin Bates | Published: January 1, 2024

Nikki Haley reminds one of Tom Parsons in “1984.” Also of one of T.S. Eliot’s hollow men.

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The Left Wants to Cancel Orwell? Nope

By Robin Bates | Published: December 12, 2023

MAGA fans of 1984 are now accusing leftists of canceling Orwell. Which is not true.

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GOP Intellectuals Want a “Red Caesar”

By Robin Bates | Published: October 17, 2023

Rightwing intellectuals are now advocating “Red Caesarism.” Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” provides some insights.

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To Fight Authoritarianism, Think Sisyphus

By Robin Bates | Published: July 18, 2023

How to fight against authoritarianism? This of yourself as Camus’s Sisyphus.

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History’s Arc Bends Towards Kafka

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2023

The late Kundera has fascinating insights into how the novel has intersected with history.

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