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November 3, 2025 
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Since joining Times Opinion last year, M. Gessen has written arrestingly about the moral challenges of an era of rising authoritarianism. Their latest column is a powerful reported essay about how to be a good citizen in a bad country.
It’s a question that readers of every political stripe may have asked themselves at one point or another, as their nations pursued agendas deeply at odds with their own values. It’s all well and good to object, but if you’re still participating in civic life, still paying taxes, still carrying on, are you implicated in the policies you decry?
Gessen’s question led them to Israel, where dissidents have opposed their government and the harm they believe it is doing in a variety of ways. Though specific to their personal and political circumstances, these stories are powerful examples of how we all can try to reconcile our values with our actions, and what makes that effort so worthwhile.
Read the column:
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