Would You Have Resisted?

It’s easy to imagine ourselves on the right side of history—defying Nazis, hiding families, speaking out against injustice. But when authoritarianism isn’t wearing jackboots and waving flags, when it comes instead through threats of imprisonment, masked men grabbing people off the street, or sending natural born citizens to a gulag in El Salvador, will you stick your neck out to resist?

As democratic institutions across the globe face rising threats—from media crackdowns to election engineering to dangerous strongmen appealing to fear—a surge of resistance is awakening across the divide. People of all ages, races, and political persuasions are congregating to disrupt a threat that is unfathomable in a functioning democracy.

This article looks into what motivates everyday people to take a stand—and why some don’t. The science is clear: resistance is a gut reaction to what is immoral and a reflection of humanity’s embrace of common decency. Resistance is always a heartfelt matter, fueled by empathy, moral grounding, and the understanding that we all matter equally.

To understand more about how moral courage is cultivated, how ethical leadership shapes movements, and how something as simple as proximity to others who are “different” can be a spark for justice, it's all here in The Conversation.