Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century on Fighting Tyranny
By Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. From across the fearful twentieth century, here are twenty lessons about what it takes to oppose tyranny, adapted to the circumstances of today.
1. 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.
2. Defend institutions. It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. So choose an institution you care about and take its side.
3. Beware the one-party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections.
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Today the Wisconsin Republicans have proven that they will use a worldwide pandemic to achieve their goal of establishing a one-party state. Trump -- with the help of compliant Republican senators -- is replacing Senate-vetted positions with people appointed in "acting" status, thereby loyal to him and obeying his every insane whim. He is denigrating the IGs individually and their role in oversight as a whole. He daily attacks journalism -- and individual journalists -- when they report facts which he deems unfavorable to him.
And yet there is no one who is willing to stand up and say to Trump's face, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
