Institutions will not save us

To all my fellow writers:

There was a book published back in the late 1970s about the Holocaust, in which the author concluded that while there were a lot of individuals who did speak out and attempt to do what they could to push back on Nazi policies and protect Jewish people and others who suffered under Hitler’s government, major institutions failed.

Not only did they fail, but they actually kept an open line of communication with the Nazis. They continued to negotiate and do business with Germany. They ignored laws that turned into concentration camps and ethnic cleansing. They turned a blind eye to deportations and people disappearing. They said nothing, as long as their standing wasn’t compromised.

The author also points out that too many people align with institutional, rather than humanitarian, values. They will fight harder for the institution’s rights than they will for human rights.

Institutions will not save us. They will not fight for us. They will act to protect their own interests.

And what is an institution? According to this author, a collective of people who are not necessarily malicious, but are in circumstances that are out of the ordinary who are unsure what to do. They want to help. They want to fight back. They’re overwhelmed. Their institution won’t support them. Their institution may even be encouraging them to keep the peace and not challenge the regime.

Leaders are the ones who have the power to shift what an institution will do, but many of them will only act to protect themselves and the institution. Most leaders are going to fail us. This should not come as a surprise.

Institutions will not save us. They will not defend those being persecuted or harmed. There will always be people willing to enable the institution and move away from any sort of moral stance. There will always be people willing to go along with whatever the status quo is – even if it’s horrific.

Fear is a powerful tool. These are fearful times.

Keep writing. That book that was published in the 70s did change minds. It did open up a lot of new discourse – and not just in the U.S. Things were eventually acknowledged that hadn’t been before. Truths got out that had been hidden. A reckoning happened some years later, when it came to understanding that the Holocaust happened as much due to the inaction of good people as it did to actions of evil people.

No, it did not prevent this, but that’s not the fault of the author. Change did happen. It was happening. That’s why we’re seeing such a hostile take back. We did threaten the patriarchy. We did threaten white supremacy. We did threaten old systems of belief and control. We did.

We can do it again. It may take a long time, but we can do it again.

Keep writing. Fiction, non-fiction, it doesn’t matter. Get those truths out there. Or hoard them in boxes in your basement in hopes that someone, at some later time, can get those truths out there.

Keep writing. Writing is an act of resistance.

LK