On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century Overview and Lesson 1

Thank God and Timothy Snyder for this book. Timothy Snyder and Jon Meacham (The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels) are my biggest reasons for hope that we will emerge out of this national nightmare.

I am working on my second reading of this little book with big content. I approached Dr. Snyder about printing the book verbatim in my Blog. He pointed out that there would be clear copy write issues with this approach.

So, because I think that getting the content of this book out to my small , but loyal, readership is important, I’ve decided to re-state the lessons at the start of each of the 20 chapters and summarize the contents in my own words.

Dr. Snyder begins his book with these words: “History does not repeat, but it does instruct.” The folks that wrote the Constitution of the United States were concerned that their well conceived democratic institutions would devolve into oligarchy (a small group of people having control of a country, organization or institution) or empire.

Tyranny comes from the Latin tyrannus meaning “illegitimate ruler.” In the 20th Century Fascism and Communism arose in Europe in response to globalization. Nation states fearing that they were loosing control of power turned to Fascism and Communism. Fascists ruled for a decade or two in Italy and Germany in the 1930’s and ’40s. The Soviet version of Fascism lasted over seven decades.

The United States has the chance to learn from history, to seek out and understand where tyranny comes from and what it looks like and then to take action to restore the democratic forces that our nation was founded upon. This will not happen by itself. Dr. Snyder has identified 20 points or lessons that he thinks will help us to do battle with the forces of tyranny in our time.

Speaking of the Contents:

1. Do Not Obey in Advance.
2. Defend Institutions.
3. Beware the one-party state.
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
5. Remember professional ethics.
6. Be wary of paramilitaries.
7. Be reflective if you must be armed.
8. Stand out.
9. Be kind to our language.
10. Believe in Truth.
11. Investigate.
12. Make eye contact and small talk.
13. Practice corporeal politics.
14. Establish a private life.
15. Contribute to good causes.
16. Learn from peers in other countries.
17. Listen for dangerous words.
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
19. Be a patriot.
20. Be as courageous as you can.

Lesson 1:Do Not Obey in Advance

“Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”

Timothy Snyder

Dr. Snyder gives two examples of this tendency to presumptively following the new ruler in the book.

In 1938 Austria, the decision of a large portion of the Austrian people to follow Adolf Hitler without question decided what would happen to Austrian Jews.

In 1961, a Yale psychologist conducted an experiment to demonstrate why Germans followed along with Hitler in the 30’s and 40’s. He told one group that they would be applying an electric shock to another group in a learning experiment.

The group receiving the “shock” were instructed on what was happening. The people “giving” the shock did not know what they were doing. They witnessed great pain and suffering from people that they did not know. The instructor gave them orders to “increase” the level of the shock until victims complained of chest pain and victims appeared to die. There appeared to be no concern for the fate of their fellow citizens in light of the results of the experiment.

The experiment showed how willing people were to listen to a new ruler and follow them without question.

I encourage you to get a copy of this book:

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. Tim Dugan Books, New York, 2017.