Hundreds of protesters in Chicago have faced tear gas and federal agents, and still they come back. At the Pentagon, nearly every major news organization lost press credentials rather than accept government censorship. In courtrooms, Trump-appointed judges ruled against Trump's election challenges despite death threats.
Intimidation isn't working on everyone. And when enough people refuse to back down, the dynamic changes for everyone else.
When Silence Looks Like Stability
Democracy depends on courage: the willingness of people with something to lose to speak when it matters most. Some institutions still hold. But others are buckling. This February, the Washington Post restricted its opinion section to only "personal liberties and free markets," and banned all other views. The LA Times' entire editorial board resigned as its owner remakes the paper.
When loyalty is rewarded and dissent punished, fear becomes government policy. Silence starts to feel like prudence, even professionalism. But that calculation, the trade of principle for personal security, is how free societies hollow out from within.
The test of courage comes when reputation, income, or safety are on the line. That's when silence spreads or stops.
The Long Road from McCarthy to Today
In June 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith stood alone against Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy wielded fear as a political instrument, branding artists, teachers, and federal employees as traitors, and convincing the public that loyalty meant silence. She called out "The Four Horsemen of Calumny: Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear." But courage didn't immediately spread. McCarthy's power grew for nearly four more years.
What Smith's speech actually did was subtler: it proved that opposing McCarthy wouldn't end your career. When Edward R. Murrow broadcast his McCarthy exposé in March 1954, he could point to Smith as evidence that criticism was survivable. When the Senate finally censured McCarthy in December 1954, Republican senators, including Smith, voted against their own party's chairman. It took four years and dozens of people before permission became action.
In October 2019, as the first impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump was beginning, State Department diplomat William Taylor testified about the Ukraine pressure campaign despite knowing it would end his career. Marie Yovanovitch followed. Fiona Hill followed. Alexander Vindman followed, and lost his military career for it.
Trump was acquitted. But these witnesses created a documented record that became the foundation for the January 6th Committee's investigation. They showed other civil servants that speaking up, even at great cost, was possible, and that the record would outlast the acquittal.
Courage becomes contagious when it stops looking like suicide. And sometimes it crosses the lines that people think are uncrossable.
One Voice Becomes Ten
Here's what changes the calculation: critical mass. One person speaking up alone often loses. Ten people speaking up together can compel institutions to take a stand.
This is why visibility, rather than martyrdom, keeps courage alive. Write the dissent publicly. Resign with a clear explanation. Vote 'no' on the record so the next person sees it's survivable. Taylor and Vindman spoke anyway, making it incrementally safer for the next person.
After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed over 60 lawsuits challenging the results. They lost nearly all, including in courts with Trump-appointed judges. In Pennsylvania, Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, wrote: "Calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations, followed by proof. We have neither here."
Trump publicly attacked the judges by name. His supporters sent death threats. Did their rulings stop the effort to overturn the election? No, it culminated on January 6th. But they held the line, proving institutional integrity could survive partisan pressure.
What made these acts courageous instead of partisan? Cost. The judges endured threats and professional ostracism. They ruled as the law required, knowing the decision would bring threats and condemnation.
In Chicago, protesters face tear gas and federal agents as they demonstrate against the deployment of National Guard troops for immigration enforcement. Teachers show up. Clergy show up. Elected officials file lawsuits. The protests grow from dozens to hundreds. And on October 15th, nearly every major news organization in America lost Pentagon press credentials rather than sign a policy requiring government approval before publishing, even for unclassified information. Fox News, CNN, The New York Times, and NPR all refused. One outlet signed: One America News. Everyone else walked away.
The pattern is the same in both places. One person speaks, then ten, then many. Critical mass doesn't require everyone. It requires enough people standing together that institutions are forced to take a stand.
Book bans are advancing. Federal research is being suppressed. Corporations are retreating from public positions they held two years ago. In school board meetings, federal agencies, and corporate offices, people are watching to see if anyone will speak up or if silence has won.
Making Courage Visible
Show up to the school board meeting. Sign the open letter. Attend the protest. Write the op-ed. Resign with an explanation if that's what it takes. Not because you'll single-handedly change the outcome, but because ten other people in the room are doing the same math you are, and they need to see that speaking up won't destroy them.
Margaret Chase Smith didn't topple McCarthy. William Taylor didn't stop the Ukraine pressure campaign. Chicago protesters haven't reversed ICE raids or National Guard deployment. Pentagon reporters lost their credentials rather than submit. But none of them were trying to win alone. They were trying to make it possible for others to follow, and they did.
Courage is the willingness to be visible when everyone else is calculating whether silence is safer. Be the school board member who votes no. Be the employee who asks the uncomfortable question. Be the person who shows up.
Courage spreads when people see it's survivable. So make it visible. And if you can't be first, be second. Someone is waiting to see if they'll be alone.
Edward Saltzberg is the Executive Director of the Security and Sustainability Forum and writes The Stability Brief.
