Mark Carney used the Czech shopkeepers as stand-in for middle-sized countries and companies, but the example was precise to the responsibility of individuals living in the oppressive system. I don't know if Krugman was obliquely referencing individual responsibility; James Fallows' reference is clearer.

It is the reason that I attended the No Kings rally. It's important to me, as an "individual shopkeeper" in a democracy under threat, to "take the sign down" and be on record in these defining moments when future generations ask "What did you do during the war, dad?"