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 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.”

Defend Institutions

“It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning. So, choose an institution you care about–a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union–and take its side.

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

(A reminder that I am paraphrasing Dr. Snyder in this post. If you want his entire message, I encourage you to read the book.)

I do think that Dr. Snyder’s message here is very clear. If you believe in something strongly, it is your duty to support it in whatever way that you can.

Do you value good journalism? Subscribe to a publication that offers a printed version of their work. In this way you support news organizations that pay journalists to gather, edit, vet and publish factual news from real sources with actual evidence.

Do you value the vote? Support organizations like Project Vote Smart or Fair Fight.

Do you know anyone or of anyone that is suffering during COVID-19? Support legislation to help them financially, donate to your local food bank, encourage your friends and families to get involved.

Don’t stand by and think that someone else will do the work. You need to do the work. Find the cause that you value and help it to do its work.

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.