One Year After Trump’s Election, Revisiting "Autocracy: Rules for Survival"

So, it has almost been a year. And one gets used to almost everything. Well, almost. Russian-American author Masha Gessen reflects back over her initial reactions to Donald Trump's election in this New Yorker article, one year after the US elections. Gessen opens up by stating that:

I wrote a piece called “Autocracy: Rules for Survival,” which was published by The New York Review of Books and read by millions of people. Today seems a good day to look at how well my proposed rules have held up.

As a dissident from Russia, Gessen's insights and recommendation the year before for living under, or rather "surviving" Trump rule turned out to be quite accurate in terms of capturing this Presidency's overarching tunes. In fact, her six recommendations for "survival" seem to suit well for our contemporary political quandaries regarding democracy and leaders worldwide. This is not to say that "autocracies" and "democracies" are similar; the degrees of trouble faced by dissidents are entirely different in diverse systems. And the prices paid and faced by dissidents trying to survive under autocracies are far higher. Nevertheless, not getting used to democratic deficits seem to be prime rule to resist the rise of populist or autocratic leaders. In Gessen's own words:

Most catastrophes unfold over time. Following the shock of a disastrous election—or a Presidential tweet—the sun rises again in the morning, and life appears to proceed as before. One adjusts, until the next shocking event.

However, one must not adjust; instead strive to adjust the sliding system so that democratic norms are respected. It may be increasingly impossible to forecast "what's next" in terms of politics worldwide, but the universal norms and principles are still valid regardless of time, geography and circumstances. Gessen's "sixth rule of survival" is "remembering the future"; basically looking ahead and winning democracy back by working hard for it.