‘There Is No Political Power without Power over the Archive’

THE OBSERVER: Titles banned, data deleted, the nation’s librarians sacked without explanation – Donald Trump’s war on books is a threat to democracy across the world, writes the head of Oxford University’s libraries

Iam a librarian. I am fortunate enough to run one of the world’s largest and best known libraries – the Bodleian in Oxford – but my experience of libraries began as a reader. My mother took me as a child to the Deal public library in Kent, and it was there, in its modest book-filled rooms, that I discovered new worlds. My life was transformed by a public library (and its librarians) that allowed me to read freely from its well-stocked shelves. Throughout my career, I have seen at first-hand how libraries underpin the education and self-improvement of all of our citizens, rich and poor, young and old, of all creeds and colours, through providing access to a multitude of ideas and knowledge.

They celebrate the history and identity of our communities; they are stout defenders of facts and truth in an age of misinformation; and they are places where people can learn about their rights and how to protect them. This year we celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Public Libraries Act of 1850, which created our system of free public libraries – a kind of “NHS for the mind”. But what has been happening to American libraries rings a loud alarm bell for our own cherished library system.

Libraries large and small in the US are now on the frontline of the battles over knowledge that have intensified since the second presidency of Donald Trump began. The attack on libraries and librarians there is shocking and happening at a disorienting pace. Thousands of books have been banned from public and school libraries, librarians have received death threats and many have been fired. The heads of both the National Archives and the Library of Congress have been sacked on spurious grounds. Data has been deleted and funding for critical initiatives ceased.

Why is the US, the land of the free, where the realm of ideas and knowledge has been enabled by the first amendment, now turning on institutions that have been among the most trusted in society? » | Richard Ovenden | Saturday, July 12, 2025

This is what happens when a nation through insouciance elects into office an ignoramus. – © Mark Alexander

Expert on Civil Wars around the World Says the Fight to Save Democracy Must Come from the Bottom Up

Mar 30, 2025 | Professor Barbara F. Walter, a renowned expert on civil wars around the world, warns that the United States meets key criteria for nations heading toward major political violence. We ignore the warning signs at our own peril, according to the author of “How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them.” American history shows that the fight to save democracy will have to come from the bottom up, Walter says. “Protest and peaceful resistance works,” she adds. “Don't voluntarily comply with orders that are illegal. Don't help Donald Trump implement his agenda–don’t preemptively comply.”

How Democracy Can Fail: Lessons from Germany | Reupload

Feb 9, 2025 | Democracies can fail. Current events have raised the question of how stable or fragile democratic structures are, and whether democracy is much more vulnerable than we think. The Weimar Republic, the first democracy in Germany, ended with the rise to power of the Nazis in 1933. What happened back then? What parallels are there to the situation today, and what can we learn from the past?

Young Europeans Losing Faith in Democracy, Poll Finds

THE GUARDIAN: Support is lowest in France, Spain and Poland, while 21% back authoritarian rule under certain circumstances

Only half of young people in France and Spain believe that democracy is the best form of government, with support even lower among their Polish counterparts, a study has found.

A majority from Europe’s generation Z – 57% – prefer democracy to any other form of government. Rates of support varied significantly, however, reaching just 48% in Poland and only about 51-52% in Spain and France, with Germany highest at 71%.

More than one in five – 21% – would favour authoritarian rule under certain, unspecified circumstances. This was highest in Italy at 24% and lowest in Germany with 15%. In France, Spain and Poland the figure was 23%.

Nearly one in 10 across the nations said they did not care whether their government was democratic or not, while another 14% did not know or did not answer. » | Deborah Cole in Berlin | Friday, July 4, 2025

12 Warning Signs Democracy Is Dying I Anthony Scaramucci and Laurence Rees I Open Book

Jul 2, 2025 | Laurence Rees is the author of several acclaimed books on the Second World War and is a former Head of BBC TV History programmes.

His work includes the television series and bestselling books The Nazis: A Warning from History, Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution', World War II: Behind Closed Doors and The Dark Charisma of Adolf Hitler. In 2017, his The Holocaust: A New History, was a Sunday Times bestseller.

Rees holds honorary doctorates from the University of Sheffield and the Open University. His many awards include a British Book Award, a BAFTA, a George Foster Peabody award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award, a Grierson award, a Broadcast award, two International Documentary awards and two Emmys.

Is It True That Democracy Was Invented in Greece? | ARTE.tv Documentary

Jun 26, 2025 | Democracy is widespread today - but what do we actually mean by the word? Participative democracy existed in ancient Athens, but not everyone could take part. But did the Greeks really have the first democratic government?

“A JERK and THREAT to Democracy” — Democratic Senator Unpacks Elon Musk

Mar 22, 2025 | Watch Senator Tina Smith join Mehdi Hasan in this episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered.’ They discuss the billionaire class running the U.S. government, whether the Democrats have the guts to stand up to Trump, anti-Palestinian rhetoric spreading across America and more.

“I can see this as the kind of the handbooks of an authoritarian leaning regime. What you do is you want to tell people, like your problems are because of those others. This is we've seen this over and over again as you know, as authoritarian regimes have built power and, and we have to stand up to that.”

This episode of ‘Mehdi Unfiltered’ was aired on Zeteo.com last week. If you want early access to unfiltered, independent journalism — make sure to subscribe to Zeteo.com for exclusive access to content.


Elon Musk is a DICK! An OBNOXIOUS DICK at that! A PUKE-INDUCING DICK! If you are like me, I am sick to death of seeing his grimace and hearing about him making hard-working Americans poorer. – © Mark Alexander

Thom Hartmann: The Billionaire Experiment to Kill Democracy

Mar 22, 2025 | The future of American democracy isn’t being dismantled by accident; it’s being systematically replaced to prepare the way for something entirely new.

WIKIPEDIA: Dark Enlightenment »

The Dark Enlightenment »

With Erdogan Rival Detained, Critics See Democracy Eroding in Turkey

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Opponents say President Recep Tayyip Erdogan manipulates the courts and the media to tighten his grip on power, and now is trying to prevent a top contender from running for president.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan entered this year facing a knot of political problems with little precedent in his two decades at the summit of power in Turkey.

Voters were angry about persistently high inflation. His political party’s popularity had sunk. And his opponents had coalesced around the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who made it clear that he was gunning for the presidency.

Then on Wednesday, just four days before the mayor was set to be designated as the political opposition’s presidential candidate, dozens of policemen arrested him at his home on accusations of corruption and terrorism.

Mr. Erdogan’s foes consider the arrest a ploy to abort Mr. Imamoglu’s presidential campaign before it even begins. At stake is not only who will be Turkey’s next president, analysts, opposition leaders and foreign officials say, but to what extent Turkey, one of the world’s 20 largest economies and a U.S. ally in NATO, can still be considered a democracy. » | Ben Hubbard and Safak Timur | Reporting from Istanbul | Saturday, March 22, 2025

Related material in English and French here.

Trump Is Abandoning Democracy and Freedom. That Creates an Opening for Europe – and Britain

THE GUARDIAN — OPINION: Whether it’s sweeping up disgruntled US scientists or rejoining the EU, a bold Starmer must capitalise on Trump’s extremism

Thanks to Donald Trump, a vacancy is opening up in the international jobs market. For decades, if not centuries, and always imperfectly, the US offered itself to the world as the guarantor of democracy and the land of the free. Now that it’s pivoting away from that job description, there’s an opportunity for someone else to step in.

The evidence that the US is moving, even galloping, away from basic notions of democracy and freedom is piling up. Just because the changes have happened so fast doesn’t make them any less fundamental. We now have a US administration that blithely ignores court rulings, whose officials say out loud “I don’t care what the judges think”. In a matter of weeks, it has become an open question whether the US remains a society governed by the rule of law. » | Jonathan Freedland | Friday, March 21, 2025

Viktor Orbán and the Transatlantic Assault on Democracy - Amb. John Shattuck

Mar 15, 2025

MAGA Is Telegraphing How They'll End Democracy (w/ Anne Applebaum) | The Michael Steele Podcast

Aug 15, 2024 | Michael Steele speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and staff writer at The Atlantic, Anne Applebaum about her new book, "Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World.” The pair discuss the network of countries united by their common interest in maintaining absolute power, the reasons why people are attracted to autocratic regimes, the tactics used by modern autocrats, and the importance of civic engagement in preserving democracy.

Trump Wants to Remodel America: Historikerin Anne Applebaum zu Trumps Politik in den USA - Englisch

Mar 9, 2025 | The USA is “still a democracy”, but Trump and his team are trying to change the rules of the political system, says historian Anne Applebaum.

Die USA seien zwar "immer noch eine Demokratie", aber Trump und sein Team würden versuchen, die Regeln des politischen Systems zu ändern, sagt die Historikerin Anne Applebaum.

Bernie Sanders: A Sad Moment in American History

Feb 20, 2025 | We are witnessing a very sad moment in American history. The President of the United States is aligning himself with the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to undermine the independence of Ukraine and its democracy. Here are my thoughts:

Isn’t Trump’s behaviour the very definition of treason? – © Mark Alexander

Chris Hedges Exposes How America’s FAKE Christian Right & Billionaires Are Destroying Us! | Reupload

Feb 11, 2025 | Marc Lamont Hill sits down with Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former New York Times Middle East bureau chief, to break down America’s looming future under a toxic mix of corporate greed, religious extremism, and fascist politics. Hedges calls out the “Christian Right” for its deep ties to the billionaire class, claiming they're using "magic Jesus" to distract the masses from real economic collapse. The conversation goes deep into how the system is rigged against the working class, how “boutique activism” misses the point, and why the fight for true justice can’t be won without confronting economic inequality head-on. The explosive talk covers the dangerous rise of Christian nationalism, the genocide in Gaza, and why the left is too weak to stop the chaos ahead. You won't hear this anywhere else.

Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and social critic. With a long career covering war and global injustice, Hedges brings his deep insights into the collapse of the American empire, economic inequality, and the rise of authoritarianism. He's the author of several books, including America: The Farewell Tour and Wages of Rebellion, and a fierce critic of both political parties.

How Democracy Can Fail: Lessons from Germany

Feb 9, 2025 | Democracies can fail. Current events have raised the question of how stable or fragile democratic structures are, and whether democracy is much more vulnerable than we think. The Weimar Republic, the first democracy in Germany, ended with the rise to power of the Nazis in 1933. What happened back then? What parallels are there to the situation today, and what can we learn from the past?

Report: Ulrike Bornhak
Host: Melissa Aparicio
Edit: Frederick Willmann


It all sounds eerily familiar with what's going on in America right now. Trump thinks he has all the answers to everything just as Hitler thought he did. – © Mark Alexander

Democracy Doesn’t Exist in the United States: Chris Hedges | UpFront

Jan 31, 2025 | As Donald Trump returns to the White House, many are raising concerns about the possible decline of liberal democracy.

What then would a second Trump term mean for the next four years for the United States? And what impact will the president's foreign policy have on the Middle East?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill discusses these issues with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and former war correspondent Chris Hedges.

Trump: The End of Democracy? Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winner

Jan 20, 2025 | In this previously unpublished interview, Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, denounces the decline of freedom in the United States and the rest of the world. Trump, a creature of neoliberalism, will continue to destroy democratic institutions. By destroying institutions, neoliberal policies have enabled populists to emerge in Europe, South America and the United States.

In a previous book, The Price of Inequality, Joseph Stiglitz warned of the risk of populists seizing power.

Interview by Maxime Thuillez in Paris


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How Strong Is Democracy in Germany? | DW Documentary

Jan 17, 2025 | ‘Never again’ was the motto in Germany after 1945. This film shows how this commitment became a pillar of society. What measures are needed today to defend humanist values and preserve democratic achievements?

The film provides an insight into the challenges and hopes of remembrance culture work and examines how the motto ‘never again’ is evolving into an educational policy obligation in Germany.

With the end of the Second World War, two words became an integral part of democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany: ‘Never again’. Never again fascism, never again war, never again a dictatorship like National Socialism, in which minorities are persecuted, disenfranchised and murdered. This endeavor gave rise to a culture of remembrance, which manifested itself in the form of education in schools, memorials and days of remembrance.

But sometimes, it seems like the more frequently these words appear in official speeches, the more they lose their clarity and meaning. The discourse on a meaningful culture of remembrance is mainly conducted in academia, and often doesn’t consider the realities of life in society at large.

The documentary is an incisive and confrontational look at practical remembrance work. It shows what measures need to be taken to protect democracy and human rights in Germany. It focuses on the everyday lives of those who put the culture of remembrance into practice, and those who benefit from it.

Jabari Jones: Jon Meacham Lectures Us

Nov 12, 2024 | Jon Meacham is part of the problem. He and the entire corporate media want us to think this is normal. Well, it ain't normal. And when the people who believe tards like Jon Meacham get hauled away, remember that Jabari told you so...

Raw language alert!