Reddit mentions of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Democratic reform needs to continue to be the corner stone of politicians we put in power moving forward. Sam's conversation with Timothy Snyder and Snyder's book On Tyranny have been really impact for me in how I approach the political world. The 20 rules he lays out, if more of us followed would create a strong resistance towards bad actors trying to take advantage of our political process. Things like defending institutions, pay for investigative journalism, speaking out and donating and participating to causes that matter to you.

The book On Tyranny goes into this. Every day becomes a new normal. What we tolerate today is drastically different from what we would have tolerated 6 months ago.

Edit: if you haven't read this book, you should. It's only 6 bucks on Amazon, and you can finish it in a few hours. It is incredibly insightful.

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

this is a very good and concise starting point.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

One of the leading Holocaust historians disagrees with you a wrote a book explaining how it can happen: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

This is a good point, but we can't just rest on our laurels and assume speech in this country will always be free. I read On Tyranny yesterday, and its second lesson is quite relevant here:

> Defend Institutions

> [...] Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning.

Historian Timothy Snyder is doing an AMA now regarding his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, written following Trump's election.

In the aftermath of the election, he said in an interview elsewhere:

> We have at most a year to defend American democracy, perhaps less

I suspect it'll be interesting.

EDIT2: it's in progress so eliminating starting time info

I've been doing a lot of reading trying to figure out this election and why the heck we are so divided as a county:

https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Resentment-Consciousness-Wisconsin-American/dp/022634911X

https://www.amazon.com/Complacent-Class-Self-Defeating-Quest-American/dp/1250108691

https://www.amazon.com/Glass-House-Economy-Shattering-All-American/dp/1250085802

https://www.amazon.com/Colony-Nation-Chris-Hayes/dp/0393254224

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

https://www.amazon.com/Even-Worse-Than-Looks-Constitutional/dp/0465031331

https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion/dp/0307455777

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder is also amazing because it gives you easy things you can do in your everyday life to fight tyranny.

Dahil sa mga nangyayari ngayon, i can't recommend this book enough: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. Available sa Fully Booked.

EDIT: Sana may ganap tonight, para may karamay ako sa nangyari kay Sereno. Tuwang-tuwa ung pamilya ko sa nangyari, eh.

This is accurate. People have way too much faith in the "strength of our institutions." They aren't that strong and as we've all learned in the last few months, they depend on the good will of the people in those institutions. It is no laughing matter.

Edit: This podcast episode has an interview with the author of a book which was not written about Trump, but lays out some of the details about what leads a democracy to be overtaken by tyranny. It was interesting and worrying.

It absolutely is. Yes norm breaking is bad. But this specific aspect of departing from norms is how tyranny takes over a democracy.
Take an hour and read Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny.

That's apathy talking. If you have an hour or two to spare, I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

>I see your point, and it makes sense, but belies the logic of your post in saying he is trying to be a dictator because he is opposing the other two forces. Isn't the tug just part of the balancing that takes place for those three bodies?

A little bit, sure. I would freely agree that the executive branch has probably become quite a bit more powerful than "intended" by the founding fathers (though I'm not a constitutional scholar). But I think there's a difference between tugging a little on the chains and trying to find a big enough sledgehammer to free yourself entirely.

President's implementing policies that are eventually struck down in court, or trying to convince Congress to do what they want Congress to do, or trying to dodge the media when they've done something unpopular, are common. But it's a question of extents - can you name another president who publicly sought to undermine confidence in something as important as the intelligence community or FBI? Or who labeled everyone who didn't stand and clap for him as traitors?


> Maybe you're right, though, you seem to know more about this than I do.

If you have a couple hours to burn I'd highly recommend you read the book [On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804190119?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf). It's a quick read, and is essentially a list of warning signs governments have given along the path to tyranny. While not specifically about Trump, the commonalities between his behaviour and various tyrannical governments from the 20th century are shocking. I went into the book convinced he was little more than a xenophobic moron and finished it completely convinced that the only thing standing between him and total authoritarianism is the robustness of American institutions.

One thing I do agree with you in terms of the balancing act, however, is that the system only works if the other branches actually use their powers. I think Congress and the Senate have massively failed in their duties to stop the President given how early and how often he's crossed the line, but even that is due in large part to Trump appointing people loyal to him to the roles that normally would oversee him. Devin Nunes, for example, should not be on the intelligence council, and has sabotaged it from day one.

>When I was talking about the Iraq etc war, I meant the military-industrial complex and corporate dictatorship and other special interest groups at play, from which Trump is seen by some as an outer entity

Is he though? His tax cut was a giant handout to rich corporations, the FCC under Ajit Pai is pretty much the definition of regulatory capture, he's always talking about how many more nukes the country needs and he's done nothing to cut back on some of the negative things the US does. I think he played up the outsider role during the election but the agenda he's actually followed is exactly what mega-corporations want.

i think the argument "be extra vigilant, because Trump is a wanna-be dictator" is a cogent and effective one. i recommend on tyranny by timothy snyder for a more in-depth look at this argument

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, written by a very respected history professor at Yale who is specialized on the Holocaust.

That being said, I'm not sure I want to spend any time on this converastion with a /r/the_donald leak.

Everyone left or right please read this book. It's cheap and a very short read. I'm begging you

Very interesting. I'll give this a read later, thank you.

If you haven't already read it, the mini-book "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder is eerie.

Here’s some great books I’m reading/have read recently that I recommend:

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Columbine

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

And here’s my favorite book about writing ever:

Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories That Resonate

Along those lines, I also recommend Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny", a small but significant book. It gets down to basics and points out what we can actually do to stave off dictatorship and tyranny.

What is crazy is that a lot of folks do not care if the RNC is working directly with Fox News. State run media is something they welcome.

There are a shocking number of people out there who welcome authoritarian rule if they think it aligns with their beliefs.

This short book digs into this concept a bit. Every American should read this: https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

Well it's definitely a firehose but it's also scary because unless you're talking to a rabid anti-Trump kinda person, you get told to shut up.

The pro-Trump people tell you to shut up because you're wrong and a stupid librul.

The formerly pro-Trump people tell you to shut up because "they're tired of all this" and "both parties are the same."

The "apolitical" people say that you're just annoying them with all these stories and you sound insane, don't you know that?

And so on. So if you're like me and you glom onto every Trump story because nearly EVERY Trump story is insane and a violation of our political and ethical norms and because it seems like EVERY Trump story is worth following so that we don't become some kind of disgusting authoritarian shithole.... well.... you "sound crazy."

Which... well we were told would happen over a year ago. Timothy Snyder taught me this. Masha Gessen taught me this.

But those of us who take the current admin both seriously and literally and take this whole horrific shitshow for what it is.... we're the assholes. And me personally I'm sick of it. If and when my madness for the past year is proven correct, I'm going to rub it in everyone's faces for years. Fuck 'em.

If you like the article, I definitely recommend you read the full essay (where this was excerpted from). It is a quick read (maybe 1.5 hours) and really contextualizes the reasoning behind each point into lessons learned from the 20th century. I cannot recommend it highly enough: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804190119/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_A0MRCbQK95ME4

Work in the oil patch, and political cesspool is perfectly accurate. Your comment has been my daily life for the last 4 years of Liberal government. I have social anxiety and never used to speak up in the lunchroom, preferring to just bury my face in a book and tune out the nonsense. But I can't not speak out anymore.




After the US election in 2016, a tinder girl I liked but never met up with recommended a book to me that changed my life and how I view my place in society. "On Tyranny" by Timothy Snyder is the shortest, and most important book that I have read in the last couple of years. I think I've purchased at least 6 copies, giving it away freely to anyone I've thought might be interested in what it has to say.




The world is changing, and certain trends are bringing us closer and closer to a darker and darker version of the adjacent possible. Our politicians are paying close attention to what works on our poor neighbours to the South, and are using those tactics to incite hatred at home and radicalize our friends and family members against their own countrymen, all for their own political gains. They have no intention of bringing this country together. That is left to us, the silent ones keeping our heads down for fear of standing out against the mob. We must speak up, and bridge the divide.




So I've stopped biting my tongue. It's not always pretty. Sometimes people blow-up at you, or insult you directly. Those are usually the ones that can't think outside the box their Facebook memes have them trapped in emotionally. The argument devolves quickly. But I don't lose my patience. I might not get through to the loudest guys in the room, but there are always others who are capable of genuinely listening to what I have to say. They don't even have to agree with me, I just encourage them to listen and think about it, and to educate themselves instead of just parroting memes and talking points. These people are being lied to every day, and they are afraid for their futures. Be understanding and receptive to their complaints, admit when you don't know the answers, and correct them when they are spreading propaganda.

Remember, I'm pulling for ya, we're all in this together.

Also read On Tyranny by Snyder. A quick read that’s very much worth your time.

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

https://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-Twentieth-Century/dp/0804190119

https://twitter.com/1SarahRose/status/826116204301516800

If you want something meatier, I recommend this or you can just read the review for free here.

We're in the middle of a culture war because the President encourages violence at his rallies and encourages chants to lock his political opponents up. We're in the middle of a culture war because the President mocks a woman whose account of sexual assault he says is credible, has dozens of sexual assault allegations against himself, and bragged about committing sexual assault. We're in the middle of a culture war because the President has been implicated in multiple federal crimes. We're in the middle of a culture war because the President finds no difference between fascist neo-Nazis who murder people and the counter-protesters who show up to combat them.

Spare me your incredulity of the left. You're part of the problem, but admitting you're wrong requires an iota of courage and a commitment to the principles of liberal democracy.

You want a book? Maybe read something other than Mein Kempf. Better yet, read it so that you can understand where Trump's coming from, because it's the only book I've ever heard it reported that he's actually read.

I am of the firm belief that something major is going to happen here by the end of the summer. I don't think it'll be something set up by the government, but I think they will know in advance and they will allow it to happen. Trump wants as much power as he can and after a catastrophic event he will be able to strip us of so many freedoms. I hope I am wrong, but my gut says I am not.

EDIT: From Timothy Snyder's fantatic book On Tyranny
>Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don't fall for it.

Seriously, if you don't have a copy of this book yet, get one. Even if we are way off about Trump, it is still an important read.

Yes, that is the goal. It happened before, and it's happening again now. Check out On Tyranny

Have you read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder? I bought this book about a decade ago (last year, when it came out). If I remember correctly, he wrote it shortly after Trump was elected as a list of 20 warning signs to look out for to ensure that it doesn't go the fascism route.

Chapter 2 is titled: Defend institutions. The idea of this chapter is that institutions have to be protected or they will fall. My favorite anecdote in the book is in this chapter. He talks about how a german jew newspaper wrote an editorial in 1933 more or less telling it's readers to calm down, there was no way that the Nazis would be able to actually follow through with the horrible things outlined in nazi newspapers. Describing balances of power and such that would keep it from happening. Eerily similar to people today, and this book rings true more and more each day. It is less than 100 pages, everyone should read it.

Timothy Snyder WIKI if you would like to know more about the author

Edit: I made myself want to read it again to see how well it held up over all, a year later. I just wanted to post this from the chapter mentioned above regarding institutions.

“Sometimes institutions are deprived of vitality and function, turned into a simulacrum of what they once were, so that they gird the new order rather than resisting it. This is what the Nazis called Gleichschaltung.”

I'm pointing out history.

I'm not sure what part of that you need me to 'prove', but it's all easily available on the internet or in your public library.

Heck, here's a good start for you, if you're interested.

It would be useful for /u/KEKconfusa as well, to try to get him to break out of all of that non-stop NPC messaging.

It has some very useful guidelines, if you're interested in protecting democracy against fear-mongering demagoguery.