Book Review: "How to Stand Up to a Dictator" by Maria Ressa
How to
Stand Up to a Dictator is
by Nobel Prize-winning Filipino American journalist Maria Ressa. This book
chronicles her life in both the Philippines—where she was born—and the United
States, where she came up in the journalism profession in its golden age. While
it covers her whole career, it particularly focuses on her high-profile fights
against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte.
Seeing the
rise of disinformation on a global level, Ressa founded her own media company,
Rappler, with a few journalist friends. The goal being to try and design a media
company that was as agile in challenging disinformation as disinformation
itself was given a massive platform combined with those knowledgeable in
propaganda and censorship pulling the strings.
Why should
we care about disinformation and the concurrent rise of far-right elements? Well,
democracy is inherently vulnerable when people cannot agree on the basic
reality we all inhabit. Disinformation is also corrosive to democratic
institutions, like the fourth estate of journalism, where people come to mistrust
in the very foundations of democracy itself. It’s an atmosphere ripe for
exploitation by the right-wing, full of hate and mistrust, driving people apart
when it is more crucial than ever to stand together.
“Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without all three, we have no shared reality, and democracy as we know it—and all meaningful human endeavors—are dead.”
Ressa
gives a personal perspective on the corrosive nature of disinformation,
describing insidious propaganda techniques the Duterte government and its
online proxies used to target her and Rappler. Techniques that echoed those by
the previous Marcos regime. Because the company had developed a robust fact-checking
infrastructure and was calling out the Duterte regime, Ressa, as one of the
founders of Rappler, was frequently in the legal and cultural crosshairs.
“Democracy is fragile. You have to fight for every bit, every law, every safeguard, every institution, every story. You must know how dangerous it is to suffer even the tiniest cut. This is why I say to us all: we must hold the line.”
She is very principled and risks quite a bit to preserve
journalism as a check against power in a world where, currently, a Marcos is
once again a president in the Philippines. An America where a former president
with authoritarian tendencies is a leading candidate for president in 2024, not
to mention the considerable legal jeopardy accompanying him. A world in which
Europe is once again the site of a major land war.
I want to emphasize that much like other heroes, Ressa is
very much a human being, who feels fear, yet nonetheless strongly believes in journalism
and democracy. I feel like we put too many icons on a pedestal, as if they were
born without fear. But I think that Ressa is brave in that she acts on her
principles despite her very real and justified fears, and actively admits that
she is not fearless. Just someone trying to do the right thing and calling upon
and relying on her support network. As we all must rely on each other if we
have any hope of countering the antidemocratic forces at work at home and
around the world.
“When you take a risk, you have to trust that someone will come to your aid; and when it’s your turn, you will help someone else. It’s better to face your fear than to run from it because running won’t make the problem go away. When you face it, you have the chance to conquer it. That was how I began to define courage.”
Not only is she candid about her continued fears, but she is
also equally emphatic that her success was a team effort. In a world
where we often only see “Great Men” and “Great Women” lauded in popular
culture, singular figures who by their will alone move history in one direction
or another, it is a refreshing reality check. Human beings are social creatures
that have built up the society we have today through collaboration with other
human beings.
“So how do you stand up to a dictator? By embracing values, defined early—they’re the subtitles of the chapters you’ve read: honesty, vulnerability, empathy, moving away from emotions, embracing your fear, believing in the good. You can’t do it alone. You have to create a team, strengthen your area of influence. Then connect the bright spots and weave a mesh together. Avoid thinking in terms of 'us against them.' Stand in someone else’s shoes. And do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
That power
to build societies also applies to deconstructing them.
Ultimately,
it’s our choice what path we choose to go down.
Happy
reading!
--BookOwl
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