On Tyranny: Lesson 5

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.