A Scrapbook for Modern Times
Proizvol, Bernice King, and Winston Churchill
Stop saying his name. “The current President” will do.
Call the actions those of “the Republican administration,” rather than “Trump.” Do not let him act alone. Include his accomplices.
Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness, mental state, or tiny hands.
—From Bernice King, published in Ebony Magazine in 2017.
“Acts of simple sabotage, multiplied by thousands of citizen-saboteurs, can be an effective weapon against the enemy. Slashing tires, draining fuel tanks, starting fires, starting arguments, acting stupidly, short-circuiting electric systems, abrading machine parts will waste materials, manpower, and time. Occurring on a wide scale, simple sabotage will be a constant and tangible drag on the war effort of the enemy.”
“Use materials which appear to be innocent. A knife or a nail file can be carried normally on your person; either is a multi-purpose instrument for creating damage. Matches, pebbles, hair, salt, nails, and dozens of other destructive agents can be carried or kept in your living quarters without exciting any suspicion whatever.”
“From a sheet of paper, tear a strip three or four centimeters wide and wrap it around the base of the candle two or three times. Twist more sheets of paper into loose ropes and place them around the base of the candle. When the candle flame reaches the encircling strip, it will be ignited and in turn will ignite the surrounding paper.”
“Put a coin beneath a bulb in a public building during the daytime, so that fuses will blow out when lights are turned on at night.”
“Jam paper, bits of wood, hairpins, and anything else that will fit, into the locks of all unguarded entrances to public buildings.”
“Clog sewer systems.”
“One pint (of wine, water, or urine) to 20 gallons of gasoline is sufficient.”
“Insist on doing everything through "channels." Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.”
“Haggle over precise wordings”
“Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.”
“Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police.”
“Act stupid.”
“Stop all conversation when axis nationals or quislings enter a cafe.”
—From Simple Sabotage, a CIA field manual
“Loose talk costs lives. Whatever you say—say nothing.”
“Many in the past have joined the Army out of romantic notions, or sheer adventure, but when captured and jailed they had after-thoughts about their allegiance to the Army. They realised at too late a stage that they had no real interest in being volunteers.”
“A Government system which will give every individual the opportunity to partake in the decisions which will affect him or her:”
“create a demand from their people at home for their withdrawal.”
“A bombing campaign aimed at making the enemy's financial interest in our country unprofitable”
—From The Green Book1
Snopes: “The story is that when Churchill was asked to cut funding to the arts in order to support the war effort in World War II, he responded “Then what would we be fighting for?” Have you ever seen this quote? I’ve seen a lot of sources saying that it’s fake but I would love to get your opinion.”
The Churchill Project: “Unfortunately, our best efforts fail to find it among Churchill’s 15 million published words of speeches, papers, letters, articles or books.
“Churchill nevertheless had expressed similar sentiments before the war started[:]
“The arts are essential to any complete national life. The State owes it to itself to sustain and encourage them.”
произвол
"Proizvol": It’s the idea that the powers that be can do anything they want to and you have no recourse. This not knowing who is next creates a state of paralysis in society.
The Tufts student whose visa was removed because she co-authored an article in the Tufts student newspaper. I thought, what would I do if guys in masks tried to grab my student?
Would I scream?
Would I run away?
Would I try to pull the mask off?
Would I try to videotape the scene?
Would I try to pull the guys off of her?
Maybe I would get scared and run away.
The truth is, I don’t know.
Not knowing terrified me.
It’s a deliberate act of terror.
Do not live in fear.
Stand up for what's right.
What starts to matter is not what is concealed but what has been normalized. There is no limit to the depravity, the sadism, and the cruelty that we are watching now play out in real time.
Poland recently went through a shift towards authoritarianism. Unlike in Russia, unlike in Hungary, the media remained a place, in Poland, where you could criticize the regime. And as a result, democracy returned. The moral of Poland is that our democratic institutions —
the media, the university, and the courts — are essential.
—From NYT Opinion
I went to high school with a guy who gave himself an IRA tattoo in eighth grade. I wonder what he’s up to these days.
It is not lost on me that I cited the IRA and then immediately Churchill.