On May 10, 1933 in Nazi Germany, students and stormtroopers burned close to 35,000 books deemed “Un-German” on the Opera square in Berlin. After all the books have been tossed into the bonfire, German Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels gave a speech calling the ceremony as “an end to extreme Jewish intellectualism” then compelled the crowd to do the Nazi salute.

Deep crises in capitalist societies are favorable grounds for the rise of fascist dictators like Hitler. In the context of Nazi Germany, the country was mired with deep poverty and unemployment right after their loss in World War I. Autocrats like Hitler ride on the crest of the people’s discontent with an anti-communist line and fanatical nationalism. Anything they deem subversive, they burn.

In the 50s, the Nazi book burnings inspired Ray Bradubury to writer his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. The premise is the same: a dictatorial society that outlawed books. This year in semi-feudal, semi-colonial Philippines, the same premise is no longer couched in fiction. This attack on academic freedom is starting to unfold as reality.

In a span of a few weeks, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the Philippine army and police removed what they called “subversive” books and pamphlets  from the libraries of state universities in Aklan, Kalinga, and Isabela, These include materials from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and other progressive writers like Prof. Joma Sison. These texts most often discuss the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and NDFP, international agreements on the civil war, the roots of armed struggle, and the historical struggle for national democracy.

To rationalize these pull-out of books, University officials said they were complying with the government’s efforts at “protecting the youth from communist ideology” and from their “recruitment to insurgent groups.”

This is clearly part of the Duterte regime’s “whole-of-nation” approach to counterinsurgency, where he mobilizes government agencies and even corroborate with state universities to join his rabid anti-communist witch-hunting. This is also a chilling recall of Marcos’ anti-subversion law, which was already repealed by Congress during former Pres. Ramos’ term as peace talks were resumed.

Not only is this a breach of academic freedom, but it is also a violation of the nature of Universities and colleges as zones of peace. This regime also belittles the youth’s capacity for critical thinking and sees them as mindless sheep. This recent attack on freedom of thought further bares Duterte as a through and through dictator. In his statements and that of his armed forces, they boast of already clearing a lot of barangays of communist-influence. They also boast of thousands and thousands of rebel returnees. So why do mere books threaten them?

It is characteristic of fascist dictators to only want to be the one to define what “peace” and “nationalism” mean for their people. They accuse leftist groups of indoctrination and deceptive tactics, but the current reactionary state is the one who coerces their notion of “peace and order” to the people. And how do they define “peace and order”? War on drugs, violent crackdown on activists, graft and corruption, culture of impunity, allowing imperialist plunder.

The Philippines is under multiple crises coming at all fronts. These desperate moves are only typical of fascist dictators clinging to its deteriorating influence and power.

Perhaps the banning of such books will only tap on the youth’s rebellious nature and will compel them to seek what is written on them. They will be glad to find out that there are people whose commitment to peace and order goes beyond self-interest. And that a movement for national liberation has always been curdling far from our sight, in places where the state don’t want us to look.

So, look.