The Two 9/11s: US Terror Attack and Chile Coup; Sept. Q&As and Appearances NYC & Miami
And my new Atlantic essay on how Chile won back democracy
Welcome back to Lucid, and a big hello to new subscribers. Mark your calendars for our Sept. Q&As: Friday, Sept. 15, 1-2pmET and Sunday, Sept 24, 8-9pmET. Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom call that day. If you’d like to join these amazing conversations, you can sign up as a paying subscriber here or upgrade to paid:
For those in NYC and Miami: I will be speaking at P&J Knitwear in NYC along with Andrea Chalupa and Olga Lautman on September 18 at 7pmET. We’ll discuss Dictatorship: It’s Easier Than You Think, the illustrated book Andrea wrote with Sarah Kendzior. It will be a live Gaslit Nation podcast recording. You can learn more and register for the free event here.
And on Sept. 20, I will be giving a public lecture at 7pm at the University of Miami on “Strongmen and How To Push Back Against Them” as part of my visit as a 2023 Henry King Stanford Distinguished Professor. You can learn more and register for the free event here.
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Today is Sept. 11. It is a searing and fateful date in the histories of the United States and Chile. My weekly essay, which publishes on Wednesday, will discuss the terrifying seventeen-year dictatorship that came about as a result of the 1973 coup.
Here is my new Atlantic essay on how Chileans restored their democracy in the 1980s through a combination of mass mobilization, unity of the opposition, and positive messaging designed to inspire hope and action.
And here is my Lucid essay on how Chile got into the nightmare of dictatorship. In the years 1970-1973, the United States waged political, economic, and psychological warfare on the government of democratically elected Socialist President Salvador Allende to create the circumstances conducive to a coup. There are many resonances of U.S. and Chilean actions in these years with the war on democracy being waged by Trump and the GOP now.
In America, the other 9/11 is more revelant to many. Here is my essay on 9/11, which combines personal reflections on the experience of that day and thoughts about how it opened a path to illiberal politics on a new scale in America and a new round of American imperialism abroad.
Have a safe start to the week, and look for my essay in your inboxes on Wednesday.
Wow, Ruth... your essay on how Chile reclaimed it's democracy is just what I needed to hear, and I think everyone needs to hear. For eight years we've been being warned and doomed by books about how democracies die but what we really need are role models for how democracies survive and thrive. So thanks for this shot in the arm this morning! I specifically like the historical perspective you offer that nonviolent movements for democracy are very much aided when there is a strengthening coalition of business, labor, faith leaders, etc. as ballast underneath. I also loved hearing that hopeful ads, encouraging and empowering memes about joy and the return of rainbows, for example, can be so uplifting amid a population who has been downtrodden and hopeless for too long. I suggest we follow that example right now and contrast the loss of individuality and personal agency that happens under dictatorships with the buoyancy of self expression and the right to think for yourself and speak honestly about how you feel that is nourished and protected in a democracy.
Dictatorship = the loss of selfhood
Democracy = the right to selfhood
I was on my way to work in lower Manhattan for AT&T as a switch engineer.
I heard the news on the radio, I remember pulling my car over to side first I screamed, then I cried uncontrollably.
I was not sure what to do. I knew the city was in lockdown.
I drove to one of our facilities in NJ to see they needed help transferring traffic.
At that time AT&T was the major carrier for all of the banks and trading companies.
I had friends who died in those buildings, I will never forget 9/11.