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1 4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from 20 Lessons from the20th Century AboutHow to DefendDemocracy fromAuthoritarianism,According to YaleHistorian TimothySnyderin History | January 20th , 2017 Image by Rob Kall, via Flickr CommonsTimothy Snyder, Housum Professor ofHistory at Yale University, is one ofthe foremost scholars in the and4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from on the rise and fall oftotalitarianism during the 1930s and40s.
2 Among his long list ofappointments and publications, he haswon multiple awards for his recentinternational bestsellers Bloodlands:Europe between Hitler and Stalin andlast year s Black Earth: The Holocaustas History and Warning. That book inpart makes the argument that Nazismwasn t only a German nationalistmovement but had global colonialistorigins in Russia, Africa, and in , the nation that pioneered so4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from methods of humanextermination, racist dehumanization,and ideologically justified land hyper capitalism portrayed in even during the Depression Snyder writes, fueled Hitler simagination, such that he promisedGermans a life comparable to that ofthe American people.
3 Whose raciallypure and uncorrupted Germanpopulation he described as worldclass. Snyder describesHitler s ideology as a myth of racialiststruggle in which there are really novalues in the world except for the starkreality that we are born in order to takethings from other people. Or as weoften hear these days, that acting inaccordance with this principle is the smart thing to do. Like many farright figures before and after, Hitleraimed to restore a state of nature that4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from him was a perpetual state of racewar for imperial dominance.
4 After the November election, Snyderwrote a profile of Hitler, a short piecethat made no direct comparisons toany contemporary figure. But readingthe facts of the historical case alarmedmost readers. A few days later, thehistorian appeared on a Slate podcastto discuss the article, saying that afterhe submitted it, I realized there there are an awful lot ofechoes. Snyder admits that historydoesn t actually repeat itself. Butwe re far too quick, he says, to dismissthat idea as a clich and not thinkabout history at all. History shows arange of possibilities. Similar eventsoccur across time under similar kinds4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from conditions.
5 And it is, of course,possible to learn from the you ve heard other informedanalysis but haven t read Snyder sNew York Review of Books columns onfascism in Putin s Russia or the formerYanukovich s Ukraine, or his longarticle Hitler s World May Not Be SoFar Away, you may have seen hiswidely shared Facebook post makingthe rounds. As he argued in TheGuardian last September, today wemay be too certain we are ethicallysuperior to the Europeans of the1940s. On November, 15,Snyder wrote on Facebook that Americans are no wiser than theEuropeans who saw democracy yieldto fascism, Nazism, or communism. Snyder has been criticized forconflating these regimes, and rising into the top rungs of punditdom, but4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from it comes to body counts andlevels of suppressive malignancy, it shard to argue that Stalinist Russia, anymore than Tsarist Russia, wasanyone s idea of a than making a historical casefor viewing the as exactly likeone of the totalitarian regimes ofWWII Europe, Snyder presents20 lessons we might learn from thosetimes and use creatively in our ownwhere they apply.
6 In my view,following his suggestions would makeus wiser, more self aware, proactive,responsible citizens, whatever liesahead. Read Snyder s lessons from hisFacebook post below and considerpre ordering his latest book OnTyranny: Twenty Lessons from theTwentieth Century:4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from Do not obey in advance. Much of the power of authoritarianismis freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead aboutwhat a more repressive government will want, and then start to doit without being asked. You ve already done this, haven t you?
7 Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possibleand accelerates Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or acourt or a newspaper. Do not speak of our institutions unlessyou are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutionsdon t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless eachis defended from the Recall professional ethics. When the leaders of state set anegative example, professional commitments to just practicebecome much more important. It is hard to break a rule of lawstate without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words. Lookout for the expansive use of terrorism and extremism.
8 Bealive to the fatal notions of exception and emergency. Beangry about the treacherous use of patriotic Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. When the terrorist attackcomes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await4 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of theReichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of thebalance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is theoldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don t fall for Be kind to our language.
9 Avoid pronouncing the phraseseveryone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even ifonly to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don t usethe internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from yourbedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps The Power of thePowerless by V clav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, TheCaptive Mind by Czes aw Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, TheOrigins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is Trueand Everything is Possible by Peter Stand out. Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, tofollow along. It can feel strange to do or say something without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment youset an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and otherswill Believe in truth.
10 To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. Ifnothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there isno basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all isspectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding 2 201720 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend Democracy from Authoritarianism, According to Yale Historian Timothy Snyder Open lessons from the 20th century about how to defend democracies from Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more timewith long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism bysubscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on yourscreen is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigateforeign propaganda Practice corporeal politics.
