Whatever the political creed of authoritarian, they are no friend to democratic ideals, beyond the point of getting elected through them. The trickster nature of fascism, is all about the effective merchandising of a fantasy ideal.
Our civilisation is bewildered. We no longer have a lived sense for what drove the post war liberal consensus, a concept we are so easily prone to satirically deride. Our faith in it appears lost. We do still want to have faith in something, to have our faith renewed. What do we now put our faith in?
However, trust has been badly bruised through repeated disappointment. Putting our faith in anything, is easily sabotaged by cynicism. Cautiousness stymies our commitment. When faith has vanished, when we don't know what we are fighting for or don't want to fight for anything anymore. How can we resist?
Buddhism has no direct equivalent for faith, the nearest is sraddha which means - that which you rest your heart upon. To resist the inhumanity of political extremism, requires we reconnect with what we still rest our heart upon. Then to consider how best to resist, defend and fight for that. Our words cannot remain empty of motive and purpose.
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