Václav Havel was born on this day. The playwright turned president saw that change begins when ordinary people decide they’ve had enough.
Havel wrote about this in The Power of the Powerless. He watched people in communist Czechoslovakia go through the motions. They hung state slogans in shop windows not because they believed them, but because it was safer than facing consequences. They applauded speeches that made them cringe. They went along. Small compromise after small compromise.
His answer: live in truth. Stop pretending. Stop nodding along when you know something is wrong.
Living in truth might mean not sharing a story you suspect is false. It might mean speaking up when someone gets unfairly attacked. Small things.
Havel’s warning applies beyond communism. We’re not behind an Iron Curtain, but we still face pressures to stay quiet or go along.