On Tyranny
A book by Timothy Snyder with 20 lessons from 20th century history about the ways we can identify, prevent and deter tyranny and fascism.
- Do not obey in advance
- Defend institutions
- Beware the one-party state
- Take responsibility for the face of the world
- Remember professional ethics
- Be wary of paramilitaries
- Be reflective if you must be armed
- Stand out
- Be kind to our language
- Believe in truth
- Investigate
- Make eye contact and small talk
- Practice corporeal politics
- Establish a private life
- Contribute to good causes
- Learn from peers in other countries
- Listen for dangerous words
- Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
- Be a patriot
- Be as courageous as you can
In the epilogue Snyder speaks of the "politics of inevitability," and how the fall of communism in the early 1990s was viewed by many as the end of history. Perhaps similar to Fisher's persistence of the past. (Fisher also quotes Francis Fukuyama as having called the fall of the Berlin Wall the "end of history" in Capitalist Realism, chapter 1.) Lowering our defenses opened us to the possibility of a regime we thought could never return.
He also described "teleology," a narration of time that leads to a certain goal, like a socialist utopia. See also: Hyperstition.