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Lawyer Ian Bassin says authoritarians throughout history have followed these 7-steps #TEDTallks

Democracy is about having choices — and authoritarianism is about not having them, says lawyer and writer Ian Bassin. Detailing the seven steps of the authoritarian playbook, he invites us all to put aside our differences and rethink our role in the fight for freedom, revealing the hope and power behind every choice we make.

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Democracy is about having choices — and authoritarianism is about not having them, says lawyer and writer Ian Bassin. Detailing the seven steps of the authoritarian playbook, he invites us all to put aside our differences and rethink our role in the fight for freedom, revealing the hope and power behind every choice we make.

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52 Comments

52 Comments

  1. @DuyDieuQKQK

    August 30, 2025 at 12:03 pm

    Keep up the good work! Your videos are a real treat for all fans of your work.😛🍨💚

  2. @NgocDucEQEQ

    August 30, 2025 at 12:03 pm

    Been watching you for quite some time now and your content is always enjoyable. Thank you for your interesting ideas!🥌🫔👒

  3. @AsjadHussain-k4u

    August 30, 2025 at 12:07 pm

    Really good
    And 1 video for
    Uncomfortable habits

  4. @tobiaspersson7895

    August 30, 2025 at 12:13 pm

    So he is talking about Trump.

    • @thelostchicagogirl

      August 31, 2025 at 2:39 am

      @@dr.prof.robtopnotch it just Trump

    • @thelostchicagogirl

      August 31, 2025 at 2:40 am

      This has been an issue for decades. Not just Trump.

  5. @d.d.jacksonpoetryproject

    August 30, 2025 at 12:15 pm

    So basically Trump

    • @technolus5742

      August 30, 2025 at 1:51 pm

      Not just him. That’s the thing, he fits into this recurring pattern.

  6. @gigmarvowell7297

    August 30, 2025 at 12:19 pm

    Oh!! You are talking about Venezuela, Cuba….. I understand, YOU ARE RIGHT!

    • @technolus5742

      August 30, 2025 at 1:52 pm

      And the US is going down the same path.

  7. @sirchadiusmaximusiii

    August 30, 2025 at 12:22 pm

    What party was it again that rigged their own primaries against who their constituents wanted? Oh that’s right the DNC. Who uses critical race theory to divide people? Oh yeah Democrats.

  8. @joebagodonuts8119

    August 30, 2025 at 12:25 pm

    Sounds like the Democratic Party

    • @HelloHi-g2u

      August 30, 2025 at 12:53 pm

      Sounds like Trump

    • @joebagodonuts8119

      August 30, 2025 at 1:06 pm

      @@HelloHi-g2u

      Okay, Fascist.

    • @CherylPerson-pi5lq

      August 30, 2025 at 1:06 pm

      JELL-O HEAD TRUMPER

    • @technolus5742

      August 30, 2025 at 1:52 pm

      Thats some next level projection.

    • @joebagodonuts8119

      August 30, 2025 at 2:00 pm

      @@CherylPerson-pi5lq

      How did I know?

  9. @RHM2345

    August 30, 2025 at 12:26 pm

    Sounds like he’s describing Barry Soetoro.

  10. @DY2784

    August 30, 2025 at 12:50 pm

    The AWESOME American experiment is surviving this BUFFOONERY of an Administration, and ultimately WILL crush it. DESPAIR is NOT AN OPTION… FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!💙💙💙👍👍👍

    • @thelostchicagogirl

      August 31, 2025 at 2:38 am

      The left is no better. Both sides are full of buffoonery!

  11. @HelloHi-g2u

    August 30, 2025 at 12:53 pm

    So Trump then

  12. @GalaxyBigBird

    August 30, 2025 at 2:21 pm

    That doesn’t really work in the American system 🥰

    • @DavidTShaw

      August 30, 2025 at 4:05 pm

      You know what they say ‘It can’t happen here.’

    • @Dwayne_Bearup

      August 31, 2025 at 3:06 pm

      Except that it’s happening *right now.*

  13. @kimberlytamar2781

    August 30, 2025 at 2:46 pm

    I hope the usa can recognize this as their current situation

    • @noname-pb9vj

      August 30, 2025 at 2:52 pm

      Hope they can recognize, but they also will not be the ones watching this.

    • @talljohn5350

      August 30, 2025 at 5:20 pm

      Incredible how weak minded everyone is. All in step believing the sky isn’t blue. The people trying to destroy the west know how to manipulate and have been doing it for decades.

    • @thelostchicagogirl

      August 31, 2025 at 2:36 am

      It’s been going on for way longer that Trump has been in office. So I wouldn’t use the word current.

    • @thelostchicagogirl

      August 31, 2025 at 2:37 am

      @@noname-pb9vjI’m an American. And I’m watching. I know EXACTLY what he is talking about. And it’s been going on for decades. It’s not just Trump.

  14. @dr.prof.robtopnotch

    August 30, 2025 at 3:26 pm

    Stephen miller, Pam Bondi‘s, RFK, etc. The whole administration.

  15. @dudeamongus

    August 30, 2025 at 3:49 pm

    So, just like it happened during the pandemic when Liberal governments around the world short up power censored free speech and locked down citizens against their will, as the world stop 4 years ago.

  16. @applianceguy6279

    August 30, 2025 at 4:39 pm

    Wow , he’s talking about Democrats

    • @ThatonedudeCR12956

      August 30, 2025 at 8:24 pm

      I sincerely hope this is sarcasm

    • @applianceguy6279

      August 30, 2025 at 8:30 pm

      ​@ThatonedudeCR12956 no sarcasm, just truth. Just listen. Hes talking about Biden administration

    • @ThatonedudeCR12956

      August 30, 2025 at 8:40 pm

      @@applianceguy6279 Give a single example that applies to Biden but not to Trump using actual data not vague statements

    • @applianceguy6279

      September 1, 2025 at 9:15 pm

      ​@ThatonedudeCR12956 number one, fias warrant, to phone tap Trump team. Sending the FBI to the church groups saying there, extremist. Number 2, Russia hoax and Biden Laptop being false. 3. Biden laughing, at the Supreme Court decision. And he said, we’re gonna do it anyway. Student loans forgiveness. 4, they actively censored every social media source on the planet.5. he weaponized the illegal immigrants and trans people 6. They tried to take Trump off the ballot in three states. 7. Allowing the BLM riots over fentanyl floyd . Yes hes talking about dems

  17. @ShaneBro

    August 30, 2025 at 7:21 pm

    Uhmm, does sound familiar at all. Also doesn’t sound like what Alberta is doing with book banning and health reform.

  18. @ldcole90

    August 30, 2025 at 7:52 pm

    Check check check…..

  19. @RockeroNato

    August 30, 2025 at 9:59 pm

    Brazil today

  20. @vijayveersudhakar1213

    August 31, 2025 at 1:44 am

    India, all these symptoms pretty much visible.😢

  21. @toddgardner2826

    August 31, 2025 at 2:00 am

    So… Obama.. got it

    • @Dwayne_Bearup

      August 31, 2025 at 3:05 pm

      If Obama had been doing that then Trump would never have been elected. Or, are you trying to say Obama was working for Trump?
      🙄

  22. @DeedoDoop

    August 31, 2025 at 2:46 am

    Professor Kendall roy

  23. @zishanghizali1182

    August 31, 2025 at 6:20 am

    India is qualified on all parameters

  24. @muhammadhussain1091

    August 31, 2025 at 10:35 am

    Listen tyranny Timothy Snyder

  25. @nancyduncan2948

    August 31, 2025 at 12:20 pm

    This is happening in our country NOW. It will not be stopped unless the Republicans in Congress stop empowering Trump!

  26. @A.I_R.M-7

    August 31, 2025 at 12:58 pm

    I agree.quickly please.

  27. @seek3n

    August 31, 2025 at 5:33 pm

    Sounds like every leader from the world 😅

  28. @Bill..N

    September 1, 2025 at 4:14 am

    Sounds like TDS..

  29. @jimmycrackcorn3457

    September 1, 2025 at 9:17 am

    Said that jew

  30. @mustafahasan7831

    September 1, 2025 at 11:26 am

    BJP/RSS perfectly fits. Wow.

  31. @michaelwatts1810

    September 2, 2025 at 11:24 am

    OMG this is exactly what Trump and his boss Stephen Miller is doing to a “T”

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