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cover of episode Why One Yale Professor Chose To Leave The U.S.

Why One Yale Professor Chose To Leave The U.S.

2025/5/19
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What A Day

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Jane Koston
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Marcy Shore
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Marcy Shore: 作为一名研究东欧极权主义历史的学者,我对美国政治局势深感担忧。2016年大选后,我强烈感受到威权主义抬头的威胁,这促使我开始认真考虑离开美国。我并非轻率地做出这个决定,而是经过了漫长而痛苦的思考。其中一个重要原因是,我一直对美国的枪支暴力问题感到不安,桑迪·胡克小学枪击案发生时,我的孩子们还很小,这件事给我留下了深刻的阴影。因此,在2016年大选后,我决定不带孩子们回美国。我的丈夫蒂莫西·斯奈德原本打算留下来抗争,但他最终为了我和孩子们同意搬到加拿大。我深知,仅仅依靠制衡机制来防止威权主义是危险的,就像泰坦尼克号上的人认为他们的船不会沉没一样。我认为,2024年与2016年不同,因为民主制度受到了侵蚀,最高法院也被特朗普的任命者占据。人们有将不正常现象正常化的惊人能力,这让我更加担忧。俄罗斯的一些概念,如“Proizvol”和“Obnazhenia”,可以帮助我们更好地理解威权主义是如何悄然出现的。“Proizvol”指的是当权者可以任性地对你做任何事情,你只是一个客体而不是主体。专制通过任意性来恐吓和分裂人民,使他们不知道哪里是安全的。“Obnazhenia”指的是将丑陋、腐败、残酷和虐待公然暴露在人们面前。公然展示丑陋、腐败和残酷会削弱反对派的力量,因为人们不知道如何应对这种赤裸裸的残忍。我承认,我是家里的神经质的懦夫,所有关于懦弱和放弃的指责都应该指向我,而不是指向我的丈夫。如果卡马拉·哈里斯赢得选举,我就不会对离开感到内疚。我相信自己能真实地写作和说话,但我并不相信自己有身体上的勇气。我害怕暴力,不确定自己在暴力情况下是否能勇敢地站出来。即使是那些认为自己投票支持特朗普的人也开始意识到,这并不是他们真正想要的。个人理性地思考会意识到,拒绝妥协会带来大于个人选择的社会效应的个人风险。团结是克服原子化的唯一解药,尽管历史上这种时刻非常罕见。乌克兰广场革命是一个人们克服恐惧,团结一致的时刻。当足够多的人同时克服恐惧时,改变才有可能发生。团结的时刻是脆弱和短暂的,但它向我们展示了人类拥有改变的能力。

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The New York Times recently published a video op-ed by a group of Yale University professors who say they’re leaving the U.S. for jobs at the University of Toronto in the wake of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. While their decisions are all complex and personal, the three professors — Marci Shore; her husband, Timothy Snyder; and their colleague, Jason Stanley — all study authoritarianism, and all warn the U.S. isn’t immune from the democratic backsliding seen elsewhere and throughout history. Professor Shore, an expert on the history of authoritarianism in Central and Eastern Europe, joins us to talk about how she and her family came to the decision they did.

And in headlines: Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the Supreme Court blocked the White House from reviving deportations using a rarely used war-time law, and the Israeli military said its forces had started “extensive ground operations” in Gaza.

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