Above: John W. Studebaker, Plain Talk, Washington, DC, National Home Library Foundation, 1936. Included on the cover (underneath the main title of the book) is a quote from Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, from the 1927 case, Whitney v. California. Part of the quote reads, "[The Founding Fathers believed] discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government." Image above scanned from a personal copy.
A dozen statements to ward off authoritarianism, by John Studebaker, from his book Plain Talk
(Quotes begin after this brief intro)
Today, we are addressing the growing threat of fascism and authoritarianism by legal actions and by attempting to shame Trump supporters. The former is necessary and good, and the latter is mostly useless (serving more as an emotional catharsis than anything else). Good or bad, neither of these strategies address the core of our national problem; and that problem is that a great mass of Americans are lacking in (a) critical thinking skills, (b) an understanding of civics, and (c) feelings of social responsibility. If Trump goes away, they'll simply vote for the next con-man demagogue in the line of succession.
FDR's commissioner of education, John Studebaker, felt that public forums, where citizens could get together and discuss important issues (and not just be lectured at or propagandized to) was necessary for democracy to thrive. Before his time in the New Deal, Studebaker created a public forum program in Des Moines, Iowa. They were so successful and well-attended that, once he became FDR's chief educator, he created the Federal Forum Project (see the Living New Deal's summary of the Federal Forum Project, as well as its biography of John Studebaker).
Here are a dozen statements by Studebaker, from his 1936 book Plain Talk, that could serve to vaccinate us against fascism, nazism, and demagogues... if only we would listen...
1. "If you are ignorant of public affairs and vote as someone tells you over the radio, how can you be sure that you aren't voting for his interests or for those of the man who pays him, instead of in your own interests? Your only protection as a citizen is to know for yourself. How do citizens in a democracy equip themselves for intelligent use of their individual and collective power to get what they really need and want? The only way I know of is to study and read and counsel together on matters of public policy, to hear all points of view, to read newspapers and periodicals and books, to examine critically and discuss every issue."
2. "The ballot in the hands of an apathetic, ignorant, or fear-ridden people, unwilling to devote themselves to a continuing cooperative search for reality, is but an instrument of self-destruction."
3. "Let us keep clearly in mind the fact that the greatest enemy of democratic government is civic ignorance."
4. "In democracy we need to plant centers for public discussion in every rural and urban community. We need a free platform where public issues may be debated as a wind-break against the gusts of emotionalized propaganda."
Above: Part of an article from The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa), February 21, 1936, p. 4. Image courtesy of newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
5. "To the extent that citizens in our democracy lack that critical attitude and desire to know for themselves we are in danger of being swept off our feet to support rash and ill-considered innovations proposed by able demagogues. Numerous pressure groups are constantly trying to 'sell' people on vaguely-described ideas and to organize them to work for plans without regard to whether the people understand the proposals."
6. "But when the masses have little or no access to knowledge, facts, opinions and discussions, their actions can hardly be said to display the kind of public opinion that will keep democracy safe. Such people are merely being moved like puppets on strings by the clever who know how to manipulate human emotions. That is not democracy, but a sort of hog calling exhibition in which important issues are decided by the numbers responding to the best caller."
7. "The basic conception of the function of the public forums would be educational: that is, they would undertake to provide for genuine freedom of investigation and discussion, with emphasis upon critical thinking as opposed to the emotional appeal and obscurantism of the demagogue."
8. "What is more pathetic than the retreat of civilized people from their hard-won peak of democratic self-government to the valley of discredited despotism in the belief that they are marching in a modern crusade?"
Above: This ad appeared in The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa), April 3, 1936, p. 8. Pick the topic of your next forum! Do you want to discuss "Labor Problems," "Constitutional Democracy," or "Theory of Fascism"? Image courtesy of newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.
9. "Dictatorships are nourished to power by the failures of representative government to solve vital problems... It doesn't take a very great leader to organize a confused and self-defeated people to finish off an anemic democracy and usher in a dictatorship."
10. "The [authoritarian] leaders try to discover the lowest possible emotional denominator of the masses. They ask themselves what popular feeling can be played upon to galvanize huge numbers of people into a mob, which can be swayed and controlled by the mind of a leader... Anti-democratic movements are distinguished by demonstrations, displays, and constant appeals to the basic emotions - fear, hate, self-preservation. They do not flourish in a critical atmosphere, nor do they welcome discussion and debate."
11. "One of the emotions most easily exploited in the interest of establishing dictatorial control is an exaggerated sense of patriotism. The successful dictator must identify himself and his program with the nation. He tries to make loyalty to the nation mean loyalty to himself as the unselfish deliverer of the nation... The movement attempts to make people feel that its great leader is patriot number one. Anyone who dares criticize him or his views is called an enemy of the nation."
12. "The founding fathers of American education made it abundantly clear that the primary purpose of free public education in a democracy should be to prepare youth for intelligent and independent exercise of citizenship... we must teach young people how to think clearly and precisely, to analyze, to criticize, to weigh evidence, to discover facts, to check conclusions, and to discuss."
Above: Studebaker's forums in Des Moines were numerous and well-attended. There was also good attendance in the Federal Forum Project. Human beings are hungry for information and discussion... if only we provided a good venue for it. From the Des Moines Tribune (Des Moines, Iowa), September 21, 1936, p. 9.
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