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jenny_islanderI continue with my read-through of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder.
"Lesson 18: Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on...do not fall for it." (Italics Snyder's.)
In this chapter, Snyder traces the parallel chronologies of real and manufactured emergencies in the tyranny that overtook Germany in the 20th century, and the one that is now settled in the United States in the 21st. He is writing in 2017. It may seem that his penultimate paragraph, from the perspective of 2025, is futile. But beware of American exceptionalism. Every tyranny follows the same arc, some longer than others, but all ending in a fall.
"For tyrants, the lesson of the Reichstag fire is that one moment of shock enables an eternity of submission. For us, the lesson is that our natural fear and grief must not enable the destruction of our instιtutions. Courage does not mean not fearing, or not grieving. It does mean recognizing and resisting terror management right away, from the moment of the attack, precisely when it seems most difficult to do so."
There will inevitably be more violent pushback and opportunistic mayhem as tyranny attempts to ooze into every home, commons, charity, and business in America. Do not let yourself be buffaloed into giving up more freedom because the tyrant promises safety. If you don't know what your rights are, learn them now. If you don't know what the legal or executive norm is for a given situation, learn it now. And call tihs tihs when you smell it.
"Lesson 18: Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on...do not fall for it." (Italics Snyder's.)
In this chapter, Snyder traces the parallel chronologies of real and manufactured emergencies in the tyranny that overtook Germany in the 20th century, and the one that is now settled in the United States in the 21st. He is writing in 2017. It may seem that his penultimate paragraph, from the perspective of 2025, is futile. But beware of American exceptionalism. Every tyranny follows the same arc, some longer than others, but all ending in a fall.
"For tyrants, the lesson of the Reichstag fire is that one moment of shock enables an eternity of submission. For us, the lesson is that our natural fear and grief must not enable the destruction of our instιtutions. Courage does not mean not fearing, or not grieving. It does mean recognizing and resisting terror management right away, from the moment of the attack, precisely when it seems most difficult to do so."
There will inevitably be more violent pushback and opportunistic mayhem as tyranny attempts to ooze into every home, commons, charity, and business in America. Do not let yourself be buffaloed into giving up more freedom because the tyrant promises safety. If you don't know what your rights are, learn them now. If you don't know what the legal or executive norm is for a given situation, learn it now. And call tihs tihs when you smell it.
