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jenny_islander"Lesson 3: Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a heroic 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."
Snyder's first point in the following chapter struck me particularly. You may have heard the quote "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Snyder does not know of any primary source that proves that Jefferson said it. However, there is a primary source in which Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), an abolitionist, says "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...the manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten." (Italics mine.)
Snyder goes on to note that the tyrannies he studies were, by and large, voted in--at the national level. But, as he says, they were not "omnipotent from the start."
So vote, "while you can." Every election, no matter how small. Electrical co-op, school board, fire and rescue service district, city council, borough assembly, mayor.
Voting seems useless because it is undramatic, brief, and small. Whatsisface is strutting around on TV with a big smirk on his face as he monologues about robbing and disenfranchising you and your loved ones, and I'm telling you to vote for your representative in Fire District 3, or whatever? But his image and voice appearing in every American home is just an attempt to tell the lie that he is therefore also in your home. He's in Washington, peacocking for the cameras. On a local level, tyranny has the power we give it, not only through collusion, but also through inaction. And a petty little wannabe tyrant on your school board has much, much closer access to the life of your community. And sooner or later the national tyranny will come knocking, and the first thing it will look for is support via collusion and submission. So don't. (And we know, firsthand, what happens when lots of people decide that their vote is useless.)
When there isn't an election, consider making yourself a gadfly. Look beyond the Internet. If there is a local newspaper that has real reporters, or a call-in show on local radio, try that. Also consider 5calls.org, which helps you pester your elected representative. Some are corrupt, but others are frightened or uncertain. Let those know that you, their constituent, disagree with the felons in chief.
The Biblical story Phillips refers to is about a miraculous food that fell from Heaven when the Israelites, newly liberated from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, were running out of food. Take only what you need each day, the Lord said. Go out every day to gather. If you try to stockpile it all at once and then do nothing, it will spoil. And so it did.
Go gather the manna.
Snyder's first point in the following chapter struck me particularly. You may have heard the quote "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Snyder does not know of any primary source that proves that Jefferson said it. However, there is a primary source in which Wendell Phillips (1811-1884), an abolitionist, says "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...the manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten." (Italics mine.)
Snyder goes on to note that the tyrannies he studies were, by and large, voted in--at the national level. But, as he says, they were not "omnipotent from the start."
So vote, "while you can." Every election, no matter how small. Electrical co-op, school board, fire and rescue service district, city council, borough assembly, mayor.
Voting seems useless because it is undramatic, brief, and small. Whatsisface is strutting around on TV with a big smirk on his face as he monologues about robbing and disenfranchising you and your loved ones, and I'm telling you to vote for your representative in Fire District 3, or whatever? But his image and voice appearing in every American home is just an attempt to tell the lie that he is therefore also in your home. He's in Washington, peacocking for the cameras. On a local level, tyranny has the power we give it, not only through collusion, but also through inaction. And a petty little wannabe tyrant on your school board has much, much closer access to the life of your community. And sooner or later the national tyranny will come knocking, and the first thing it will look for is support via collusion and submission. So don't. (And we know, firsthand, what happens when lots of people decide that their vote is useless.)
When there isn't an election, consider making yourself a gadfly. Look beyond the Internet. If there is a local newspaper that has real reporters, or a call-in show on local radio, try that. Also consider 5calls.org, which helps you pester your elected representative. Some are corrupt, but others are frightened or uncertain. Let those know that you, their constituent, disagree with the felons in chief.
The Biblical story Phillips refers to is about a miraculous food that fell from Heaven when the Israelites, newly liberated from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, were running out of food. Take only what you need each day, the Lord said. Go out every day to gather. If you try to stockpile it all at once and then do nothing, it will spoil. And so it did.
Go gather the manna.
