Patrick Symmes
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Author ChasingChe, BoysFromDolores. Globetrotter for NYT, Harper's, GQ, Outside. UMKnightWallace Fellow, Fulbright Portugal. Cubaholic, motorcyclist.
Articles by Patrick Symmes
Rio de JaMurder
Book Report: I am working through a second draft of “The Black Pill.” I finally launched into a rewrite of my Brazil chapter. This was the weakest section in my manuscript, a failed attempt to weave three threads together. One was about Bolsonaro and the Latin American version of authoritarianism. The second is an investigation into the recent assassination of a gay, black city councilwoman in Rio.
A Global Theory of Global Theories
I hate podcasts (did I mention that a hundred times?) but here’s a really detailed interview with Harvard’s Pippa Norris, one of the authoritarianism experts I cite most.
Pattern-Seeking Patriots: Podcast Edition
WE HATE NOT KNOWING. That’s the bottom line about conspiratorial thinking. Human intelligence evolved from basic pattern-seeking in animals, and a million years later, we still fall into the trap. Because the things that helped or hurt animals could be detected by patterns (of movement, color, sound, or behavior, etc), we still look for patterns everywhere. Even where they do not exist. A classic example is the Biblical numerologist, who scours the Gospel for codes, revelations, and predictions.
DADTIFA: A Book Excerpt
Share The Authoritarians A special note of thanks today to my paid subscribers. Thanks to you, I just hit a major milestone. Last week I crossed 100,000 words in my book manuscript. In fact, I am pages away from finishing the draft that I have been working toward for more than two years. My book compares the violent authoritarian movements I have covered around the world with their analogs in the US, the militias, racists, and armed right.
The Dissuasion Committee
I drafted this while heading to Porto in northern Portugal. I rode an 80-yr old urban tram, to a clean subway, to a modern express train that is now sweeping me up the length of the country, at 187 km/hr, on banked turns. Ready for a thread on social investment? Portugal has planes, trains, and automobiles, buses, scooters, ferries, bikes shares & more.
Reds with Pastries
Wonder Woman at the Automat. The American far right sees communists and communism everywhere. I got chased out of a militia rally in Idaho in 2020 by a man screaming that I was a “communist journalist.” The Affordable Care Act was communist. The original New Deal was communist, and the Green New Deal is communist. Anyone who doubts that Donald Trump won the election is a communist. Health care is socialism (they use these words interchangeably, so I will too). Sex ed for teenagers is communist.
Resistance, Revolution, and Russia
The School of Dictators: Dad does hard labor, Mom slaves in the kitchen, and a fortress looms in the distance. There’s a line on the wall of Portugal’s Museum of Resistance which says: A people who oppress another people cannot be free. That was written in 1957, by a group of African students who met to discuss liberating their homelands.
The Empire of Lies Strikes Back
Lisbon. Empires don’t last. Twenty days. That’s how much time it has taken to change the world, to shake the foundation of alliances, global understanding, and political meaning inside America and around the world. I was browsing a book store in Lisbon yesterday—more on that later—and was struck by how instantly out-of-date many book titles now seem. Whether in Portuguese or English, the shelves groaned under the weight of denunciations.
COED MURDER MYSTERY!
Give a gift subscription Propaganda isn’t just lies. It’s often about what you don’t hear. I’m in New York, media city, en route to my job teaching journalism in Lisbon this semester. Yesterday I bought a coffee and a newspaper and noticed what isn’t news. From Tucker Carlson to the New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire worked tirelessly to hype the Canadian trucker protests as a new conservative prairie fire that would bring down a liberal government.
Worth Listening
I HATE PODCASTS so you know its good when I’m listening. I’m devoted to “Third Squad: After Afghanistan,” by Elliott Woods. A veteran and journalist, Elliott went back, ten years later, to find the Marines he once embedded with in Afghan combat. Sobering, emotional, and at moments unbearably sad, this is a story of sacrifice and resilience, combat and loss, as they come to terms with—or just ignore—what happened to them. We trained them to kill, but we didn’t prepare them to be killers.
Hypocrisy is their Superpower
Give a gift subscription Tea Many Martoonis: Holidays in Portland Some quick links to reading and resources. • Barton Gellman authored a much-discussed cover story for the Atlantic magazine, “January 6 was Practice.” Aside from warning that Trump will run in 2024, it offers a despairing portrait of one credulous Trump fanatic, and there is a good statistical analysis of the January 6 insurgents.
Books Solve Everything
I recently completed a rigorous course of study on American history and contemporary political thought. Translation: I went to my cabin in Patagonia for a few weeks, and when not trout fishing, put in five hours a day reading seven different books and writing about authoritarianism. The trout fishing was very good (see below). The reading was even better.
Cult 45
Loony tunes. Dipshits. Q-quacks. I follow a lot of bad news so you don’t have to. By “bad” news, I mean the stupid news—the signs that fringe numbskulls are going ever deeper into their imaginary worlds of politics and fantasy. If the bizarre and ridiculous political beliefs of some Americans were only that, I’d wish them well. But nowadays, the pathetic and gullible are too often captured by the powerful, with real-world implications.
The Anti-Democratic Party
HAPPY AUTUMN. The Authoritarians returns with a look at the panic attacks over Covid-19 vaccination, and why actual authoritarians call everyone else authoritarian. Give a gift subscription I WAS RECENTLY FORCED TO WAIT, in my airplane seat, as my flight was held on the tarmac in Jackson, Wyoming. This went on for quite a while—tens of minutes! I was stuck there because President Maskypants Joe Socialist Biden was visiting Colorado.
Reality and its Discontents
They Hate Complexity. We Can Hack That.
Skin in the Game
Give a gift subscription First, the fun stuff: I wrote an article on food waste and how to stop it, for Bon Appétit. It’s a serious problem with delicious solutions. So click here. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/the-food-waste- Now the even-more-serious part. How far have we strayed from democracy? The world of conspiracy thinking is round. Lansing, Michigan.
To Stop Food Waste, We Need to Confront Our Food Anxiety
Humans throw away about 1.3 billion tons of food a year, or—at the very least—one third of all food in the world. If you loaded that refuse into trucks, they’d wrap bumper-to-bumper around the world seven times. All that waste is detrimental to our planet. In terms of carbon emissions, we toss tomatoes, let the bread go stale, age out our cilantro, and ignore our mustards until we are doing as much damage as every single car and truck on the planet.
Maracaibo at Midnight
Violence is the new politics. For today’s authoritarians, here and abroad, threats, intimidation, and symbolic violence are an extension of ordinary politics. Violence is actually necessary to create the “majoritarian” democracies they demand. Watch my new video explainer, taken from my work around the world. It’s called Maracaibo at Midnight: Violence as an Extension of Politics.
Reality-Based Conservatives
Bob from the comments section (below) asks how my suggestion of engaging with rightist opponents works against “actual Nazis.” First of all, this proves Godwin’s Law, that all internet debate is eventually shortcircuited by someone bringing up Hitler or the Nazis. I saw an actual Nazi at a Proud Boys protest once—a young guy in a full Wermarcht uniform. “He’s not with us,” the speakers insisted—even though he was.
Texas Frozen in Time
HAPPY WEEKEND. The Authoritarians is back with a look at why Texans were freezing to death last week, and the answer is, COMMIE-NISM! And, in honor of the Senator from Cancun, a cocktail recipe for the “Cruzan Overnighter.” Worth subscribing just for the drink. Ben Fountain on why Texas needed electricity the first time, in the 1930s: The Texas hinterland....which today forms the big beating heart of the state’s Republican base.... [was] a close approximation of 14th century peasant hell.
“An Information War”
The Authoritarianism Project has three parts today, including finances and followers of the Jan. 6 coup, Masha Gessen’s ideas for healing society, and a deeper look at Twilight of Democracy, by Anne Applebaum, a book I mentioned previously.
An Indictment
A decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that we should declare the causes which impel us to indict him for insurrection, delinquency of duty, and despotism. He has suborned foreign leaders to fabricate charges against a rival candidate for office, and traded our military capacities for personal benefit. He has sent our armies and fleets to foreign places as Mercenaries, demanding payments for deployments rather than extending our power only in the use of national interest.
The Great Unwakening
Was that a coup attempt? Yes. That was a coup attempt. We can debate the exact meaning of the word “coup,” but by America’s historical standards, that was the first attempt to overturn a presidential election by direct force, ever. In my last edition, the morning of Jan. 6, I called it “Attempted Coup Day.” I wish I had been wrong. Maybe it was an autogolpe, a self-coup. It didn’t have generals in epaulettes.
Literary Process
How do you write a book? How do you tell a story? Here, for paid subscribers, is a video on my literary process as of yesterday. This is a short description of the chapter or chapters I am creating about Manila, and my investigations into vigilante murders encouraged by the president of the Philippines. I talk here about organizing a twin narrative out o…
Fact, Fraud, & Feeling
Good morning Mr. and Mrs. America, and (as Walter Winchell put it) all the ships at sea. Today, Jan. 6, is Attempted Coup day in Washington, when the GOP radicals and their Pround Boy street cohort threaten to block the electoral college from voting. If they succeed, civil war. Have a nice day! * The fraud about election fraud is over. The recounts are done. The ballots are certified in every state. There was no fraud.
Hey Joe
For paid subscribers, here is a draft section of my book on authoritarian violence. This is about the Philippines. The section helps set up my chapter on the violent drug war and vigilante executions that resulted from the election of President Duterte in 2016. Future sections will go into the specifics of several murders I investigated in the slums. Be…
Outlines
Ronald Inglehart’s model of transition in societies, from Survival-to-Self-Expression I poured over a notebook from the Knight-Wallace Fellowship in Michigan this year. Along with the twice-weekly fellowship seminars, I was auditing classes, including Spanish literature, Psychology 389, and the polysci class “Stability of American Democracy,” where we l…
At The Hinge
Share The Authoritarians Donald Trump used to warn us about caravans. Now we know what he really meant. In the days before the election, there have been newly aggressive and even violent incidents where Trump supporters (in the main) have tried to alter politics with brute force. From the beginning, I have focussed this newsletter on the role of violence in politics, which I covered abroad, and now see at home. We are at a hinge. This country, and this column, will begin to change tomorrow.
Reality and its Discontents
Do you feel helpless? Today’s far-right populism is a reaction to qualities— alienation, lack of trust, insecurity, the inability to have confidence in our collective future — that it actually creates, rather than resolves. Tribalism increases polarization, alienation increases distrust, and we enter a self-defeating, downward spiral. Authoritarians want their own particular identity, meaning, and belonging, and in the process are destroying our collective identity, meaning, and belonging.
THE BLACK RIFLE
Share The Authoritarians AS FAR AS NAMES GO, the Not Fucking Around Coalition has it down. With a title like that, they could be an experimental jazz band, an intramural sports team, or a political reform movement. The Not Fucking Around Coalition is a militia. They might describe themselves as a political reform movement—founded in Atlanta, the NFAC claims to defend human rights and protect victims from crime. But they do that with guns. Lots of guns.
Altruism and Apocalypse
Give a gift subscription (US Marshalls Special Operations Group during the Portland protests) Thanks for paying for a subscription Below is an excerpt from my forthcoming book on authoritarianism around the world. In yesterday’s post to (all) subscribers I talked about Rebecca Solnit and her book, “A Paradise Made in Hell.” I’ve incorporated some of her ideas here, in a passage …
Intro to the Watergate Comedy Hour
Here’s the opening of the Watergate Comedy Hour, to help you remember that it’s a very good idea to laugh and authoritarian leaders. There’s a reason they hate mockery so much. This is from the original vinyl album in my parent’ collection, probably recorded in 1974.
Arresting Your Opponents
It is terrifying that our president is calling for the arrest and punishment of his direct political opponents—terrifying because we don’t even notice it. This is not normal, but in the swirling toilet-bowl that is Donald Trump’s administration, the constant crises and chaos allow dangerous trends to take root. The president just ordered his attorney general to indict his election rival in the middle of the election.
Protests, Left and Right
Here are portraits from the protests and counter protests, starting in 2017, that inspired my Authoritarianism Project. Lefties in Portland, righties in Lansing, and militia celebrities like Ammon Bundy talking to armed supporters in Idaho.
Proud Boys, Cults, & Subscribing
Share *Good news. The rally Sunday by right-wing brawlers the Proud Boys was a flop. They promised to summon thousands to take back Portland and kick antifa’s ass. Instead, a couple hundred appeared in a remote park. They prayed, waved flags, and denounced “domestic terrorism” while threatening the press with baseball bats and kicking one videographer to the ground.
Globalize Your Protest
As the late Ruth B Ginsburg said, “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Below I’ll describe three examples of constructive protest tactics, from, Argentina, New York, and Hongkong, and give links for taking action on Trump’s Supreme Court pick. ARGENTINA I like the South American casserole. It’s not a dish, it’s a protest. In 2001, when the Argentine currency collapsed, citizens reacted with protests they called casserolazos.
Violence is the New Politics
Here is the full text of my article on violent extremism this week, from YahooNews: The return of political violence from Portland to Kensosha – and what to make of it By Patrick Symmes PORTLAND – Political violence is easy to start, and nearly impossible to stop. A single incident isn’t enough to launch a cycle of democratic decay, although the recent tit-for-tat killings in Kenosha (rightist shoots leftist) and Portland (leftists shoots rightist) should have everyone in America concerned.
What Portland and Kenosha say about the return of political violence in America
PORTLAND, Ore. — Political violence is easy to start, and nearly impossible to stop. A single incident isn’t enough to launch a cycle of democratic decay, although the recent killings in Kenosha (rightist shoots leftists) and Portland (leftist shoots rightist) should have everyone in America concerned.
What Portland and Kenosha say about the return of political violence in America
PORTLAND, Ore. — Political violence is easy to start, and nearly impossible to stop. A single incident isn’t enough to launch a cycle of democratic decay, although the recent killings in Kenosha (rightist shoots leftists) and Portland (leftist shoots rightist) should have everyone in America concerned.
The Authoritarianism Project
Friends, colleagues, readers… I’m coming out of the closet. Over the last eight weeks I’ve begun this newsletter, the Authoritarianism Project. It is free, and I’m asking you to sign up. Why are some people stocking guns while others run from tear gas? Why are nameless paramilitaries in unmarked vehicles grabbing people off the streets? Why is a leader trying to move the date of an election?
The Battle of Portland: Trump's escalating tactics against protesters are backfiring in Oregon Original
The first flash-bang grenade went off around 11:10 p.m. in Portland, Ore., a thunderous clap that echoed off the high walls of the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. Within minutes, a rowdy protest against racism and police violence had turned into a chaotic scene of screaming civilians, shouting police officers, whizzing plastic stun munitions and cascades of gas grenades arcing through the night.
THE RABBIT HOLE
The #AuthoritarianismProject Brings my two decades of reporting from repressive societies overseas back to the United States. I’ll be working here, live, in public, as I report and write my new book applying the lessons of strongmen and anti-democratic tendencies to America. Newsletter 5 One of the most important things we can do this year is not believe what we want to believe.
BIKERS AGAINST TRUMP
“ I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump. I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point and then it would be very bad, very bad.” —President Donald J. Trump As a life-long motorcyclist, I find Trump’s fetishistic focus on Bikers for Trump both pathetic and stupid. Putting on a Harley T-shirt does not make you a badass. But for the authoritarian, violence is a necessary extension of politics.
Step 1: Build a Wall of Lies
How do we know what’s true? Yesterday the son of the president of United States retweeted a call for violence against whites, supposedly written by black protesters and left-wing terrorists. Today we learn that the claim was fabricated by a former Ku Klux Klansman. Using an account on social media that was brand new. That had only a couple hundred of followers. Yet somehow it reached the son of the President of the United States, and through him, millions of supporters and believers.
The Authoritarianism Project
Welcome to the Authoritarianism Project, an investigation of anti-democratic movements across the US and overseas. I am an author (Chasing Che, The Day Fidel Died, Boys From Dolores) and globetrotting correspondent for the NYT, Harper's, GQ, and Outside. When I’m not riding my motorcycle or calling Fidel Castro dirty names, I trace dangerous populist movements and violent leaders at home and abroad. Sign up here so you don’t miss the first dispatch. Please , tell your friends and colleagues. Thanks.
Thirty Days as a Cuban
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The Fire Next Time
(counter protestors at a Proud Boy rally, 2017) THE FIRE NEXT TIME You remember Donald Trump, right? You probably spent the last four years dreaming of voting him out of office. We wanted a grand, final repudiation. Instead we got an election that resolved only a single thing, the presidency. Almost nothing else was settled convincingly—Trumpism gained ten million votes over last time, and is alive in state houses and both chambers on Capitol Hill.
The $68,000 Fish
Just beyond the high pass into Stanley, Idaho, at the end of a very long day, I ran out of gas. It was 1997, and I still remember the sound of the engine on my father’s thirsty old Bronco, first sputtering, and then dying. But I was somewhere around seven thousand feet in the Sawtooth mountains and had gravity on my side. I managed to keep rolling downhill for miles, taking the long curves in silence, fast enough at first, then slower, then slow.
The Secret Story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Last Tango
© Provided by The Daily Beast John Swartz/American Stock/Archive/Getty Everything comes to an end, even a tango party in Argentina. It was a perfect combination, that night in early 1904: a warm spring evening, a house full of the great, and a yard full of the good. The great: That would be the new governor, Dr. Julio Lezama, accompanied by the chief of police, military surveyors, and various political functionaries.
The Secret Story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Last Tango
Everything comes to an end, even a tango party in Argentina. It was a perfect combination, that night in early 1904: a warm spring evening, a house full of the great, and a yard full of the good. The great: That would be the new governor, Dr. Julio Lezama, accompanied by the chief of police, military surveyors, and various political functionaries. And the good: That would be the 80 or so people standing on the grass, almost the entire population of this remote valley in the Andes.
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