General Discussion

After reading your post, I felt like we read entirely different articles.

Did you read to the end where he listed organizations that people can participate with in order to fight back?

Nowhere in the article is there even a hint that people should normalize Trump.

There is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself.

Where does the article say to compromise with the Rs?

Where does it say that celebrating victories means "ignoring that we are losing?" Would you rather celebrate losing and ignore wins?

Let others stand up to Trump? Really? You honestly believe that's what the article promotes when it has a list of several organizations at the end that you can participate with to stand up for the values of democracy, spread truth that counteracts disinformation, promote progressive candidates, etc, etc.

Speaking of disinformation (or distortion) one example of it, among others, in your post is that choosing joy means living in a fantasy world. Really? Does all life stop under fascism? Is joy verboten? As in, "if anything good happens in your life, being happy about it is fantasy?"

Regarding fascism in Europe under Nazi rule, it was the ability to find joy in simple things and to share it with others that gave people the strength to endure and a purpose for fighting back and celebrating even small victories. You can see that in interviews with survivors and true life videos of some heroic accomplishments by resisters who saved people's lives. I recommend the following videos:

1) Sobibor - the true story of prisoners in a death camp who overthrew the guards, escaped, and caused the camp to be shut down. Shows instances of celebrations, romances, even dancing while plotting the escape.

2) Hidden in Silence - True story of teenage Stefania Podgorska and her 8 year old sister in Poland under Nazi occupation. Stefania was Catholic, working for a Jewish family and in love with one of their sons when the Nazis took over. She and her sister got food into the "ghetto" where Jews were imprisoned and smuggled several people out of the ghetto to hide them for 2 years in her home right under the noses of Nazis. There are moments of celebrations over extra food, humor, and happiness in the midst of horrors around them.

3) Walking with the Enemy - True story of the son of a rabbi in Hungary when Nazis overran the Hungarian government. His family was reported to a death camp while he was in a work camp, which he escaped. He killed two SS officers, took their uniforms, and saved thousands of lives by pretending to be a Nazi officer, using his fluency in German and the uniforms. Several scenes of romance, humor, and small happinesses in the middle of horrors as the Iron Cross coup took over more ruthlessly than the SS.

Those films show the reality of the horrors, but also show how people coped to maintain sanity.