Sure, we all *want* to be in the French Resistance

...but most people weren't

Check in time: how are you doing? Unnerved by recent events? Has self-care sent you scurrying away from the news? I, myself, have created a giant paper chain that winds around my townhouse ceiling, one ring for each of the 1,354 days until the next presidential inauguration. You know, totally normal, sane behavior!

@katharine_strangewith everything happening in US #politics rn, things feel scary. count down with me to the next president. #survivingtrump #immigrant #usa #progressivepolitics #political #hope #positivity #heretichereafter

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Intensive information-seeking is my oddball version of self-care. I want to feel as prepared as possible in any given scenario. This drive led me to an old TV show, A French Village.

In this series, the titular village becomes occupied by the Nazis. In each of the subsequent episodes, we see how various characters resist or collaborate, and their justifications for doing so.

Watching with my husband has led to many interesting debates—is collecting the villagers’ weapons an act of Nazi collaboration or an attempt to preserve life? What are the responsibilities of the average villager versus Mayor Larcher?

We all like to imagine ourselves as would-be resisters, but in fact, few were willing to take the necessary risks. During this second Trump term, we’ve seen our tech billionaires bowing to Trump’s authority, obeying in advance, as it were.

I’m sure they had, in their minds, worthy justifications for doing so. They were thinking of their employees’ jobs or their shareholders. But I can’t help but wonder how history will judge them.

I’ve written before about the idea of “value capture”—how our own motivations are so easily supplanted by outside incentives. Whether it’s your FitBit or a xenophobic regime, it is very difficult for the average person to hold onto their own values amid a barrage of contradictory messaging.

While Trump works out his narcissism upon our citizenry, will we be able to resist? How will we make difficult choices if our livelihoods, communities, or freedom is at risk?

Last month, The Atlantic featured an interesting book review (gift link here.) The Third Reich of Dreams by German Jewish journalist Charlotte Beradt features dream diaries of average German citizens starting in 1933. Beradt chronicles how Hitler crept into the collective subconscious. Reviewer Gal Beckerman writes:

"Beradt interprets these dreams as a side effect of what the Nazis called Gleichschaltung, or synchronizing. Germans were supposed to align their thinking with the regime and squash any inclination toward dissent. The dreams disclose a desire to succumb to this process. ‘Freedom is a burden; unfreedom comes as a relief,’ she writes—the most chilling line in the book…”

“The drive to conform is strong; it’s arguably what has allowed our social species to survive as long as it has. But just as strong is the moral conscience: the worry that you won’t be able to live with yourself if you violate an inner code."

As our democratic norms are scrubbed away, as we succumb to a president who is ruled solely by a pathological desire for domination, will our own inner codes be the only thing standing between us and totalitarianism?

I worry that our people have become too domesticated and complacent. We are fattened cows numbly eating the food put in front of us, never questioning the fences that surround us nor the coming slaughter.

It feels like an important time to meditate on this inner code, to plan on how we will hold onto our integrity in the face of great adversity. Where are our personal lines? How will we hang onto Truth no matter what’s being said around us?

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

• I will remain nonviolent and act to preserve the physical safety of others

• I will recognize the dignity of all people and treat them accordingly

• I will continue to keep an accurate record of events happening around me. I will not capitulate to false narratives.

Not gonna lie, part of me feels alarmist writing all of this. I’d love this to be an overreaction. At any rate, learning and meditating on integrity, on the “inner code” has no downsides.

Have you thought about your own “inner code”? Are you taking any steps to prepare for civil disobedience? I’d love to hear your reflections and tips in the comments.

BONUS MATERIALS:

• You can stream A French Village free on Hoopla (through your local public library)

• This video haunts my dreams

• And here’s one just for fun