On 14 May 2025, Yale Professors Marci Shore, Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley, who have all written extensively on the nature, causes and effects of authoritarianism, published an opinion piece in the New York Times, announcing that they are leaving the US for Canada, where they will all be embraced by the University of Toronto. Essentially they are moving in protest against the onslaught of the Trump administration against American democracy and the lawlessness of it. And they feel they can fight better outside of the country, because freedom of the press is under such threat.
My thought is, if that were the best way, then Harvard should pack up its bags and relocate outside of the US, as should the law firms and lawyers who have to stood up to Trump, at great cost to themselves. In fact, all Democratic voters should leave.
I understand why they want to go and certainly everybody has the right to protect themselves and work in an environment that keeps them safe. They don’t need to justify themselves; it's their right to live and work where they choose. But they clearly feel they have to justify themselves. Professor Shore says, “The lesson of 1933 is that you get out sooner than later.” Professor Stanley believes it’s essential to “set up centres of resistance in places of relative safety,” to which Professor Snyder adds, “we want to make sure that if there is a political crisis in the US, that Americans are organised.” It's a wee bit grandiose.
They cite Poland’s recent success against a shift towards authoritarianism, saying that it was due to freedom of the press still existing. Which would imply that it was never under threat. It was, though. In fact, Poland was a battleground for press freedom. Did democracy triumph because all the good people left to fight from 'a place of safety'? I don't think so. People stayed and fought from within.
The video is creatively alarmist, deliberately using extreme imagery that's bone chilling. These three accomplished academics are right to sound the alarm, but they don’t present a balanced picture. They neglect to show that within America there is a huge backlash against Trump. It's outspoken and passionate and taking place across all sectors of the country, within the justice system, the Supreme Court, universities, the press, small and large communities, State governors, the House and the Senate.
Even comedy shows and celebrities like the legendary Bruce Springsteen are taking a stand. These are all people who are staying. Well, Springsteen is travelling around Europe with his Land of Hope and Dreams tour. But he's still living in the US. And the message he's spreading makes your heart, soul and mind soar.
Regarding legal challenges alone, according to the New York Times, there have been 180 rulings against the Trump Administration to date, with a broad range, including immigration, birthright citizenship, Doge, firings, climate and environment, budget freezes, trans rights, federal access restrictions, tariffs and 31 various others.
America is not Germany in 1939. Americans like their freedom, they are quick to protest, and by and large they are a whole lot better informed than Germans were when Hitler rose to power. The world is different, people are more politically aware than ever before. Trump wants America to be like Germany in Hitler’s time, and he's doing his best to destroy democracy through the frighteningly sinister Project 2025, which often uses Hitlerian tactics, but frankly, given the intensity of the assault, he hasn’t made much headway. He’s a stupid man, his brain is deteriorating and he’s alienating the whole country.
Republicans in the House and the Senate are engaged in a civil war right now over Elon Musk and warfare that’s broken out between him and Trump, so despite their power on paper - controlling the House and the Senate - they are a weak body. They are also trapped in appeasement by their fear of Trump and are betraying their constituents by supporting him in his assault on their rights, their freedoms, their incomes and medical security. Come the mid-terms Republicans will lose the House and the Senate. Trump can be impeached then. All of this is reality.
So I wish these three well, and I'm sure they will continue to contribute meaningfully to the fight to preserve democracy, but personally I think the people who stay and fight from within deserve the greatest accolades. They will effect the greatest change and determine a victory over Trump’s attempt to turn America into an authoritarian state.
As Rachel Maddow said, “Authoritarians fight hard to make change seem difficult, to make ousting them seem impossible, to make opposing them seem hard, or pointless, or dangerous. But everybody else knows better, all over the world. Including us.”
