Tuesday, November 14, 2023

On Tyranny:Twenty Lessons. Timothy Snyder

  

 

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

 Advice from the book. 

First: 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.

Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy. Perhaps rulers did not initially know that citizens were willing to compromise this value or that principle. Perhaps a new regime did not at first have the direct means of influencing citizens one way or another. After the German elections of 1932, which brought Nazis into government, or the Czechoslovak elections of 1946, where communists were victorious, the next crucial step was anticipatory obedience. Because enough people in both cases voluntarily extended their services to the new leaders, Nazis and communists alike realized that they could move quickly toward a full regime change. The first heedless acts of conformity could not then be reversed.

In early 1938, Adolf Hitler, by then securely in power in Germany, was threatening to annex neighboring Austria. After the Austrian chancellor conceded, it was the Austrians’ anticipatory obedience that decided the fate of Austrian Jews. Local Austrian Nazis captured Jews and forced...

 

 

 

 

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

No comments:

Post a Comment