Review of ON TYRANNY
The red flags are flying
Tl;dr – This is a great, one- to two- sitting read. Great because it is alarming, prescient, and important. If we are to take seriously what is currently happening in the US, we would be wise to not try and fool ourselves and rationalize the red flags that should be going off in everyone’s mind.
In just two months, Trump has done more to threaten our democracy than I could have imagined. I’m aware that this is very loaded opening sentence, and I’m sure I’ll lose subscribers from it (as I did from my last post). But to not see the alarming threats that are brazenly happening on a daily basis is to have your head in the sand. These are not actions that can be justified by “the left had it coming” (even if they did), nor are they actions that should be taken as merely individual, removed from the pattern of actions.
Things are bad. And I’m not one to be alarmist. I found his last presidency, until January 6, 2021, to be mild and not all that concerning. This time, however, is a different ballgame all together.
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder was first written in 2017. Which was surprising to me given how much more clearly it applies now in his second term. Snyder uses history – our greatest teacher – to outline 20 ways in which one should act to resist an authoritarian, fascist takeover of our government.
Here are the 20 lessons, each a brief chapter, to give you a sense of how they apply to the current moment.
Do not obey in advance
Defend institutions
Beware the one-party state
Take responsibility for the face of the world
Remember professional ethics
Be wary of paramilitaries
Be reflective if you must be armed
Stand out
Be kind to our language
Believe in truth
Investigate
Make eye contact and small talk
Practice corporeal politics
Establish a private life
Contribute to good causes
Learn from peers in other countries
Listen for dangerous words
Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
Be a patriot
Be as courageous as you can
For me, this book was simply alarming to read. Seeing what is happening now compared to what has happened several times over in our recent history laid out so clearly, concisely, and plainly makes it nearly impossible to ignore the red flags.
Working in higher ed specifically allows me to see many applications just in this niche area, most pressingly in “defending our institutions” (as our education and university systems are being actively destroyed) and “do not obey in advance” as Columbia did this past week, setting a terrible precedent for all other institutions that are on Trumps target list.
What struck me the most, personally, was the “believe in truth” lesson in which Snyder writes “If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so.” Our president lies chronically, distorts reality, and bases rules on what works for the current moment. Add in the potent power of the internet, and you have a recipe for an unshared reality in which our communication as a nation critically breaks down. This is why, in part, diehard Trump supporters and progressive liberals talk right past each other.
It's crucial to remember that dictators come into power by democratic means. Democracies die when power is concentrated, conformity is demanded, terror is weaponized for an agenda to slowly strip freedoms, and reality is constantly distorted.
It’s difficult to imagine what will happen in the coming years given what has happened in the first two months. It seems that the only thing currently acting as any sort of block are our judges. I just hope that they can hold the line, resist corruption, and ensure that our institutions can survive to be strong enough sources of truth the keep our democracy from falling so swiftly.
If you think this is hyperbole, I encourage you to read this book. Drop some comments below.
Published: February 2017
Publisher: Crown
Format: Paperback
If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:
Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics Is Destroying American Democracy (2018) by Jonah Goldberg
Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny (2018) by Edward Watts
I read this one. It's a very good book. Thanks for directing our attention to it. Things are indeed getting dire. Those readers you are going to lose with your first sentence are probably not open to reason anyway.
As your deeply disturbed Canadian neighbour and friend, I am glad to see that some Americans are paying attention.