In 1967, Victor Pestov was a 20-year-old living in the Soviet Union. He and his brother set up a clandestine group called Free Russia. They began publishing pamphlets exposing the lies of the Soviet regime. His mother was fired from the KGB and never allowed to work in Russia again.
“Authoritarianism in religion and science, let alone politics, is becoming increasingly accepted, not particularly because so many people explicitly believe in it but because they feel themselves individually powerless and anxious. So what else can one do…except follow the mass political leader…or follow the authority of customs, public opinion, and social expectations?” Rollo May, Man’s […]
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Why are Most People Cowards? | Obedience and the Rise of Authoritarianism first appeared on
Academy of Ideas.