Folk icon and lifelong activist Joan Baez<\/a> is once again criticizing President Donald Trump<\/a> and the \u201ccruelty\u201d of his administration, saying that social change requires the courage to risk something \u2014 but that this prospect will only get \u201cscarier\u201d for Americans as time goes on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Baez spoke out on \u201cThe Best People with Nicolle Wallace<\/a>,\u201d a podcast hosted by the titular MSNBC<\/a> host, who noted that Baez was arrested in her youth for anti-Vietnam War activism and asked her how that era compared to the present.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWell, I went to jail twice, and it was all for aiding and abetting draft resistance, but you know, we had our lawyers, we had the call, we had the families come visit, we had our medication,\u201d said Baez<\/a>. \u201cAnd right now … the first order of the day for this group of people is cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cAnd [they] don\u2019t just put people in cages, [they] love putting people in cages,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what makes it scary in a way that I was not scared back then.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t experienced anything like this in my life,\u201d Baez said of the current political climate, noting that none of her peers from the 1960s and 1970s could\u2019ve imagined \u201cthis weird sci-fi movie\u201d of America today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Trump administration has used tariffs<\/a> and lawsuits<\/a> to pressure world leaders and corporations into compliance. Tech leaders have bent the knee<\/a>, while Trump\u2019s critics<\/a> have been ousted<\/a> from their jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Asked about the importance of taking a risk amid the current climate of fear and denial, Baez said, \u201cI\u2019ve said that social change cannot happen until somebody is willing to take a risk. And I believe that. And I believe it\u2019s going to get scarier and scarier to take a risk.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wallace pondered why Americans think \u201csomeone else\u201d will save the U.S. or why business leaders aren\u2019t fighting back harder, even if only to save their bottom line \u2014 as \u201cthere is no autocracy in the world where the economy is thriving.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Baez then seemed to refer to former Silicon Valley programmer Curtis Yarvin, who has reportedly<\/a> argued that democracy should be abolished in favor of a so-called \u201cnational CEO.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe first thing that comes to my mind is one of Elon Musk\u2019s little puppet people on TV, saying, \u2018We gotta get over this dictator-phobia,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s what\u2019s really evolving now. People are getting over their dictator-phobia.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The singer then shared a grim but potentially inspiring anecdote about what it actually means to live in a dictatorship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 20 Years Of<\/span>Free<\/span>Journalism<\/span><\/p>\n Your Support<\/span>Fuels<\/span>Our Mission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Your Support<\/span>Fuels<\/span>Our Mission<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Joan](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/68d2c951180000d1495cff32.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
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