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jenny_islanderI continue with my read-through of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder.
"Lesson 16: Learn from peers in other countries."
Snyder makes two points in this lesson. First, American exceptionalism was a major cause of the mess we now find ourselves in. Journalists in other countries, he says, were often able to predict what was going to happen here, because they had first-hand experience with democracy being infected and overgrown by tyranny, but also because they did not assume that America was uniquely immune. So, says Snyder, "keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries...no country is going to find a solution by itself." And consider adding to your reading list (Lesson 9) a work by someone whose name appears in his book.
Second, Snyder recommends that every family have passports for every member. He emphasizes that leaving the country would not be an admission of defeat, and that staying to go down fighting is not necessarily the best use of your life. "This fight will be a long one. Even if it does require sacrifice, it first demands sustained attention to the world around us, so that we know what we are resisting, and how best to do so." The resisters whose words he often cites throughout this book have a common history of leaving their homelands, only to return with more resources. Every member of my family has an internationally undesirable incurable condition and we are on the thin edge of poverty to boot, so leaving the country is not an option for me specifically. But I agree with him. Get passports, if you can.
"Lesson 16: Learn from peers in other countries."
Snyder makes two points in this lesson. First, American exceptionalism was a major cause of the mess we now find ourselves in. Journalists in other countries, he says, were often able to predict what was going to happen here, because they had first-hand experience with democracy being infected and overgrown by tyranny, but also because they did not assume that America was uniquely immune. So, says Snyder, "keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries...no country is going to find a solution by itself." And consider adding to your reading list (Lesson 9) a work by someone whose name appears in his book.
Second, Snyder recommends that every family have passports for every member. He emphasizes that leaving the country would not be an admission of defeat, and that staying to go down fighting is not necessarily the best use of your life. "This fight will be a long one. Even if it does require sacrifice, it first demands sustained attention to the world around us, so that we know what we are resisting, and how best to do so." The resisters whose words he often cites throughout this book have a common history of leaving their homelands, only to return with more resources. Every member of my family has an internationally undesirable incurable condition and we are on the thin edge of poverty to boot, so leaving the country is not an option for me specifically. But I agree with him. Get passports, if you can.
