Winter is coming

Biking through an icy mix of sleet and freezing rain, I have to admit that it has been a rather rough day, with a journal rejection letter and a lecture that somehow failed to connect with the students. Although everyone in academia probably has days like these, they still make you doubt your abilities.

Once at home, I make myself an Inferno Blend espresso. With the Plane Finder app informing me that the plane passing overhead is an Etihad 777-200 on its way to Dallas/Fort Worth, I quickly feel much less miserable, especially after some Swiss dark chocolate. Sometimes escapism can be such an easy fix.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Xi Jinping is cementing his rule and pushing China further away from any future of liberal freedom and democratic citizenship, with “Sesame Credit” being the latest, and perhaps most ominous, example of what essentially amounts to the gamification of authoritarianism. Yet, I maintain, the real threat to democracy comes not from regimes like these, but from our own inability to uphold democratic values and ideals at home. In a darkening world, the power of our example is needed more than ever, something that seems forgotten with every new round of anti-terror laws.

When I lived in Beijing, the banality of authoritarianism was everywhere to be seen. No one would seriously want such a future for their children. I remain confident that, in time, liberal democracy will prevail and become universal. But right now, it does seem like winter is coming.