Category: Seeking Common Ground

Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.

Lesson 10: Believe in Truth

“To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis on which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.”

Timothy Snyder, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century,” 2017

Dr. Snyder mentions Victor Klemperer on numerous occasions in his book as an observer of totalitarianism. (An aside: Do you remember the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes from the late ’60’s? The commandant of the POW camp where Hogan was being held was played by Werner Klemperer, Victor Klemperer’s son). Klemperer cites four indicators or “modes” that are indicators of the decline or death of truth.

The first is “open hostility to verifiable reality.” When this book was written, Snyder had witnessed the 2016 Presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Invented truths and lies became commonplace during the campaign. Snyder noted that at one point in the campaign, an attempt was made to document his statements. Of the statements made during this period, it was found that 78% of his claims were false.

A more recent example is the claim that the 2020 Presidential Election was “rigged” before the election happened. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the presidential election was not rigged and after case after case alleging election fraud were ruled against, the former president continued to spread the fake news that he had been cheated in a massive election fraud.

We now have just completed four years of this “open hostility to verifiable reality,” the last example being the “rigged” election story.

Klemperer’s second indicator of the decline of Truth is the use of “shamanistic incantations” where nicknames and depictions of people are repeated ad nauseam in front of crowds and then re-broadcast to media audiences. Hitler used the new video technology to spread his message, now the medium is Social Media. This is a fascist technique used to bond the dictator to his audience. You may remember some of these: “Lyin’ Ted,” “Crooked Hillary,” “Build that Wall,” “Drain the Swamp” and “Lock her up.”

The third indicator of the dying of truth is “magical thinking.” Take Snyder’s example of the former president’s campaign claims that he was going to “cut taxes for everyone, eliminate the national debt and increase spending on social policy and national defense.” A reasoned look at that statement would tell you that these things just don’t fit together. They are “magical” or fictional. You choose the word. After WW2, Klemperer talked to a former Nazi who told him “understanding is useless, you have to have faith. I believe in the Fuhrer.”

The fourth and final indicator is “misplaced faith.” This is the “I alone have the answer,” “I alone can solve this” attitude. Don’t believe anyone else, if you want the truth, come to me. I will give it to you. The so called “Fake News” technique that works so well for autocrats.

Remember Dr. Snyder’s quote: “The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.” Some of the biggest wallet’s belong to Rupert Murdoch at Fox, Christopher Ruddy at Newsmax and Robert Herring at One America News.

Cover your eyes. Keep looking for the truth.

Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.

Lesson 9: Be Kind To Our Language

“Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing that you think everyone is saying. Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.”

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder, 2017.

(Note: Don’t leave the internet until you’ve read my Blog)

Dr. Snyder’s point in this lesson is to read. Read good novels to keep broadening your vocabulary and think about “ambiguous situations.” Novels that help you to “judge the intentions of others.”

Digital media moves too fast and doesn’t allow the viewer (us) time to think about what we just saw before the next story pops up. Watch too much of it and you’ll find it harder to explain ambiguous concepts because it is taking you away from the reading that builds the vocabulary that makes it possible to express those ambiguous thoughts.

Some of you will recognize two classic novels on authoritarianism from the last century. Two novels meant to direct you back to books: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 published in 1953 and George Orwell’s 1984 which first came out in 1949. The intention of both authors was to alert us to the suppression of books, the diminishment of vocabulary that is needed to express current concepts and ideas and the overage of screen time.

I’m pushing my luck on copy write here, but I will go ahead and list books mentioned by Dr. Snyder:

• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
• It Can’t Happen Here, Sinclair Lewis
• The Plot Against America, Philip Roth
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling (central theme is tyranny an resistance)
• Politics and the English Language, George Orwell (1946)
• The Language of the Third Reich , Victor Klemperer (1947)
• The Origins of Totalitarianism , Hannah Arendt (1951)
• The Rebel by Albert Camus (1951)
• The Captive Mind , Czeslaw Milosz (1953)
• The Power of the Powerless, Vaclav Havel (1978)
• How to Be a Conservative-Liberal-Socialist, Leszek Kolakowski (1978)
• The Uses of Adversity, Timothy Garton Ash (1989)
• The Burden of Responsibility, Tony Judt (1998)
• Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning (1992)
• Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, Peter Pomerantsev (2014)
• The Bible is the guiding textual foundation for Christians. In it’s New Testament, Jesus preached on wealth (“it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God; on modesty (“whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that humble himself shall be exalted”) and on true an false (“And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”)

So, in short, it helps one to remain free from the clutches of a tyrant and tyranny when one reads books that go beyond the black and white and delve into the complexities of being human.

Incidentally, I have read the Bible, Fahrenheit 451, 1984 and about a third of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have lots of work to do.

Happy Reading and, speaking of words, remember the name Amanda Gorman. A little more about Amanda Gorman.

Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.

Lesson 8:  Stand Out

Note: This lesson became the topic of a Reflection that I shared at church on Sunday, January 17, 2021. This is the verbatim text that I shared with the congregation.

 Back in early 2018, a friend gave us the pocket-sized book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century by Dr. Timothy Snyder, published in 2017. 

As I witnessed the insurrection of  January 6 from afar, my knees literally knocking together,  I was inspired to return back to this book. It’s 20 lessons  speak directly to what is going on in the United States right here in the 21st Century. Lesson 8 is the one that calls to me, and to us, about being brave in the face of so much fear and destruction.

 Lesson 8:  Stand Out.  

Dr. Snyder uses this phrase “stand out,” which has become problematic as we all grow more aware of the way language can exclude some of us. I’m going to leave his language as is, but let’s translate his “standing out” to “rising up—since that’s clearly in body OR in spirit,” or we can think of it as “being willing to be different for the good of the community.” 

Here’s what Dr. Snyder has to say about “standing out”:

“Someone has to.  It is easy to follow along.  It can be strange to do or say something different.  But, without that unease, there is no freedom.  Remember Rosa Parks.  The moment you set an example, the status quo is broken, and others will follow.”

Dr. Snyder lifts up the examples of two individuals who stood out during the Second World War: one a world leader and the other a high school kid.

 By May of 1940, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain, many European countries had already adopted some form of right-wing authoritarian government.  Following the destruction and suffering of WW 1, the continent of Europe was ripe for Nationalist, authoritarian style leader figures to try and restore their lost dignity and pride.  In short, Democracy had become less important during this period.  What was working for the Nazis in Germany was more easily accepted in many parts of Europe as well.  But, certainly not everywhere in Europe.

The Polish government, for example, resisted the Nazi invasion, which brought France and Great Britain into the war because of their previous agreements.

This in turn led Winston Churchill to stand up to Hitler. By refusing to concede, Churchill and the British people forced the Germans to change their plans. Instead of halting all resistance in Western Europe, the Germans would have to fight on two fronts.

Winston Churchill and the British people took a stand. They took a stand because the Polish people took a stand.  These actions by the British and the Poles changed the outcome of the war.  The world was spared from Nazi domination because this person, these people, took a stand.

That’s the example of the world leader. Here’s what the high school girl managed to do.

Teresa Prekerowa was supposed to finish high school in 1940.  But the Nazi occupation of Poland forced her family to lose its property and move to the capital city of Warsaw.  Her father had been arrested, two of her brothers sent to Prisoner of War camps, and one of her uncles killed in battle. Teresa’s family was under siege. In fact, the German bombing of Warsaw had already killed nearly 25,000 people.

Instead of cowering in the face of all this horror around her, Teresa chose to stand out.  One of Teresa’s brothers had been friendly with a Jewish girl and her family before the war.  Now the Germans were gathering up Polish Jews and isolating them in ghettos around the country.  The Jewish family that Teresa knew was trapped in the ghetto in Warsaw.

Teresa chose to enter the Warsaw ghetto a dozen times in late 1940 to bring food and medicine to Jews that she knew and Jews she did not.  Eventually, she persuaded her brother’s friend to escape with her.  Then, in 1942 Teresa helped the girl’s brother and parents to escape, too.

That very summer, the Germans cleared the ghetto and deported 265,040 Jews to the death camp at Treblinka.  By her courageous actions, Teresa, a girl who’d just been hoping to graduate from high school, saved a family from the fate of so many other European Jews.

Teresa went on to become a Holocaust historian.  She called her actions normal.

Two people. Two normal people.  Each decided to take a stand and do what they thought was right.  

Maybe you or someone you know will grow up to be a world leader in the model of Winston Churchill.  

Churchill’s actions affected the entire world.  Teresa’s actions affected one family.  Most of us are more like Teresa in the scale of our impact on the world.  Yet, each one of us should be proud to follow the model of Teresa Prekerowa and Stand Up in our own way to make the world a better place, one person, one family, one church community at a time. 

Let me finish up by saying that here’s the message I get from reading Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny” in light of what is going on in our country now:  It can happen here—in fact, it is happening here, the rise of fascism.  We must all take responsibility for the world and what happens here. Standing out, rising up, being willing to be different for the good of the whole, each in our own unique way. Together we can find the courage we need to stand out.

Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.

Lesson 7:  Be Reflective if you must be armed

“If you carry a weapon in public service, may God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.”:

Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century, 2017.

Dr. Snyder offers this lesson to members of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and members of the military. You could be asked at some point to do the unthinkable and jail or kill innocent civilians. It was done during the Great Terror of 1937-38 in the Soviet Union and during the Holocaust of European Jews by the Nazis in 1941-45. There were special units equipped and trained to carry out their atrocities, but they had the help of the regular police as well.

The Nazis used gas chambers to carry out most of the killing of Jews, but shooting actions involved the regular German police. Regular police forces murdered more Jews than the Einsatzgruppen. But there were a few cases when officers refused orders to murder Jews and the policemen were not punished. Without those that conformed to the monstrous orders to murder innocent people, the hideous atrocities of the Holocaust would not have been possible.

You might think that this doesn’t apply to us in the 21st Century. This simply can’t happen. But Dr. Snyder wrote this book because he saw early signs that the Nationalism of the 20th Century was returning in the 21st Century. We are at a point when we can still defeat the tyranny, promote and strengthen Democracy and send a clear signal to the world that the United States is still “the shining city on the hill.”

This particular link is to a site that talks about how Ronald Reagan used this line in his Farewell Address to the nation in 1989. On first examination of this site, I questioned myself on whether this was the proper context for this message. But, even as I looked at the goods being promoted for sale on the site, the message still remains clear, at least to me, that this was said with good intentions.

I did not and do not agree with President Reagan’s political views and policies. But, President Reagan was a patriot. He cannot be confused with a Nationalist. He was an unabashed “America first” patriot, but he practiced his beliefs largely from within the workings of Democracy and the Constitution.

If you are a person entrusted with protecting the public or know someone that works in public safety, please be thoughtful in considering the orders that you receive and be aware of the people that you serve. When asked to do the unthinkable, be prepared to say No.

Amidst the tyranny among us, let us not forget the terrible toll that SARS-COV-2 is having on the world and the United States. Click on the link for the most current data and information.

Lesson 6: Be wary of paramilitaries.

“When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.”

Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, 2017.

Believe it or not. Want to believe it or not, in order for state, federal and local governments to freely function, federal, state and local governments must be the only institutions allowed to legally use force. I’m referring here to federal, state and local military, National Guard and police forces. Those organizations which are governed by laws are the forces that makes it possible for political systems to exist and flourish. If organizations outside of government are allowed to wield violence outside the rule of law, the ability to govern by rule of law goes away. You have anarchy. Let me clarify that I’m not referring here to the right of an individual citizen to bear arms as outlined in the Second Amendment to the Constitution. That is legal.

Once again, the Nazi example pops up. The thugs that Hitler hired to clear out opponents at public gatherings became the paramilitaries known as the SA and SS that created fear in the German people leading up to parliamentary elections of 1932-33. The SS went on to run the concentration camps of Eastern Europe in a lawless manner.

Does this sound at all familiar? Our president, as a candidate, ordered his private security to clear opponents from rallies. On top of that, he urged his backers to remove those who disagreed with him. It started with chants of “USA, USA” before the person was forced out of the rally. We, well I, would rant at the television screen when this behavior was publicized. To quote Dr. Snyder, the candidate then said to the crowd: “Isn’t this more fun than a regular boring rally? To me, it’s fun.” In addition, Snyder quotes the candidate as saying at one rally, “There’s a remnant left over. Maybe get the remnant out. Get the remnant out.”

Beware these events. Beware these behaviors. Beware this language.

On January 6, 2021, a large group of the president’s supporters, encouraged and radicalized by the president himself, marched on the Capitol and overran it. They occupied the outside. They walked in and trashed the place. They trashed it like an angry street mob while breaking windows, scattering documents, defacing statues, and stealing . It’s a good thing that the leadership of this mob was so incompetent. If this attempt at overthrowing the United States government had been successful, I would likely not be writing this today.

There must be accountability for this action. The people that participated in this riot are my fellow Americans. I, we, cannot ever forget that. In the words of American hero and true patriot, John McCain, “He may be my opponent, but he is not my enemy.” He said this in the aftermath of an unsuccessful candidacy to become President of the United States. Their behaviors on this day were wrong and illegal and they must be held legally accountable. We are not a country where mob rule wins. Alas, I deviate slightly from my subject for this post. Let’s get back on point.

Other mobs attempted similar actions in select states around the country. How were paramilitary groups involved in these actions? Apparently and thankfully not as much as they could have been. These paramilitaries are out there and they are armed to the teeth. Click on the link to learn more about them.

I found Dr. Snyder’s reminder that government should be the only institution where force can legally be used to be unsettling. But, to allow force to legally be used outside the confines of law and order is even more unsettling. I get it. As I was watching the events unfold at the Capitol this past Tuesday, my legs were shaking.

It is my point in all of these posts about tyranny to use Dr. Snyder’s scholarship on the subject to encourage us to awareness and to facilitate dialogue with those that you agree with and, even more importantly, with those you disagree with.

Lesson 5:  Remember Professional Ethics

“When political leaders set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become more important. It is hard to subvert a rule-of-law state without lawyers, or to hold show trials without judges. Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.”

Timothy Snyder from “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century,” 2017.

Note: This timely series of Blog posts are inspired and based on the work of Dr. Timothy Snyder, the Levin Professor of History at Yale University. I have taken the theme of each of the 20 lessons discussed in his book and am applying them to events that have occurred after the publication of his book in 2017.

Dr. Snyder focuses on the legal and medical professions to make his point that an authoritarian ruler can’t bring policies to fruition without the help of educated, professional people.

The Nazis of 1930’s-40’s Germany frequently appear in these lessons and they do once again here. Hitler’s personal lawyer became the governor general of occupied Poland. Hitler named another lawyer to oversee the annexation of Austria into Germany. This person later administrated the occupation the Netherlands. Lawyers were commanders in Adolf Hitler’s Einstatsgruppen, the special forces unit assigned the task of carrying out mass murder. Doctors participated in inhumane experiments in the concentration camps of the time.

This is not to single out lawyers and doctors, but to put a spotlight on the fact that a tyrant can’t accomplish their dirty work alone. Based on the events of January 6, 2021, there is another group of educated people who would stand to learn from this historical lesson.

Those would be our elected members of Congress. In looking at photos of the group of Congress members and Senators that continue to support the efforts of the president to undermine the popular vote and Democracy, I see a group of educated professionals who know that they are on the wrong side of the truth, but continue to support an authoritarian ruler with clearly undemocratic intentions.

They must be countered by their fellow lawmakers. I heard one House member from the president’s party step up today to speak truth to power. His colleagues need to stand with him and call out the bully. Bully’s don’t like it when people stand up to them.

What are the rest of us doing in our professional or amateur capacity to stand up to the bully-in-chief? We all have a role in this. It’s not just up to the doctors, lawyers and lawmakers to stand up for Democracy. For example, I view my role as informing and helping empower my small circle of readers to take action to protect and strengthen our country and our democracy.

Lesson 4:  Take Responsibility for the face of the world.

“The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away, and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.”

Tim Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century, 2017.

Symbols matter. They are the outward expression of societal views and represent signs of loyalty to the existing system.

From 1930-33, Joseph Stalin’s oversaw the transformation of the Soviet Union’s agricultural system from one dependent on small peasant farmers to one of Collectivized farms run by the government in order to support rapid industrialization. In order to do this, the larger peasant farms needed to be broken up. The more prosperous peasants who’s land and animals would need to be confiscated to bring Stalin’s policies to life were portrayed as pigs. This symbol was intended to dehumanized them and make them targets of violence from other peasant farmers.

At the same time, the Nazi Party in Germany adopted the symbol of the swastika and used the word “Aryan” to promote itself. They used the sacred symbol of Judaism, the Star of David, to deny basic human rights to German Jews.

Symbols can deify and demonize. We must be aware of them and how they are used by people in power.

Our current situation in the United States is a case in point. The flag of the United States of America, a sacred symbol to Americans, has been co-opted for political reasons to represent opinions and views that are not universally shared by the vast majority of Americans.

I urge you, no I implore you, to proudly display the American flag at your home or office. The symbol of our flag needs to be proudly displayed by all of us. It needs to once again represent all that is good and right and just in this country. It represents immigrants, diversity, compassion, freedom, justice and democracy.

Take back your flag and take back our country. We are being seriously challenged right now. But, we are a courageous, strong and resilient people. We will be ok.

Be well, be strong, be a leader. Hang in there.

Lesson 3:  Beware the one-party state.

“The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So, support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. Consider running for office.”

Tim Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century, 2017.

That moment that is right now is the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2019. One of our political parties has taken this event and sought to use it to further their political aim of one party domination of politics in the United Sates of America.

This is a controversial claim. I know that. But, I also think that it needs to be stated out loud so that more and more people are exposed to it, hear it and contemplate it.

American abolitionist Wendell Phillips said “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Several democracies came and went in the 20th Century. They were the victims of major events combined with oppressive actions of the duly elected rulers in the 1930’s-’40’s. These fascist, Nazi and communists took advantage of their moments and democracy was disappeared.

As Dr. Snyder notes, most people who voted for the Nazi Party in 1932 didn’t consider that they would not be voting in another fair and free election for awhile. The only reason why Germans have free elections today is because the Nazis were defeated in 1945. That 1932 election might have been the last one that the German people would ever have. The last Russian election was in 1990. Will there ever be another one in Russia? Not until the Russian people say there will be.

Could this happen in the United States? The answer is, of course it could. When Dr. Snyder first published On Tyranny in 2017, he said this in the book: “We can be sure that the elections of 2018, assuming they take place, will be a test of American traditions. So, there is much to do in the meantime.”