At the ripe old age of 84, I can say honestly that this is the first time I've been truly scared -- and I lived through all the government's lies during Vietnam. Thanks for this column as I needed these reminders right now.
Half kidding. I’m nearly 80 and that terror was of an entirely different nature than this one.
It is a deep concern that half the nation is about to metaphorically raise their hands and repeat after Him, “I pledge allegiance to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and to the oligarchy they head. Half a nation under Trump with liberty and justice for those who bend the knee and the hell with the rest of you.”
But history proves that ‘we the people’ at whatever time and in whatever place have never taken autocracy lying down for very long. From Spartacus to George Washington to Vladimir Zelenskyy, even in when individual rebellions failed, the concept that we all have certain rights as human beings has never been fully extinguished. And now, in this age of the internet, the forces which support this are equally able get their message out as those opposed.
My only real concern is that I may not live long enough to see this one through. But I remain optimistic.
Words I might have written myself, James. The greedy and self-serving are typically the early adopters and miners of new technologies, while the kind and compassionate lag behind. But increasingly, as you suggest, genuinely wise people will also deploy modern digital communications effectively, and thereby help open hearts and minds. I, too, remain optimistic.
And I also remember the Cuban missile crisis. I'm 78.
I lived through Vietnam as well and often wonder if it was worse then or now and I have to say now. Our institutions were stronger, we didn't have fact free social media and Nixon, as big a slime ball as he was, at least he was competent.
Maybe our institutions were stronger in the 60s and 70s. But maybe not.
Noam Chomsky was always very good about offering a hopeful perspective.
It took years to mobilize large swaths of the public against the Vietnam War. But since then, resistance to foreign adventurism has been able to mobilize quickly (probably circumventing similar adventures in Nicaragua and other places). This has been true even without a draft. (Yes, the US still uses proxies for its worst dirty work, but Gaza might be a spiritual hinge point here too.)
Parallel to resistance to the Vietnam War was the Civil Rights movement (ongoing) and the ongoing struggle to recognize the full personhood of women. It’s easy to ignore (or forget) all the hard won progress or to imagine that things have always been this way - and that they will somehow always will stay the same or get worse. In some ways we are at this point today because in the course of “healing” after the divisions of the sixties neoliberals (in the soft sense) became too complacent about earlier reforms regarding wealth distribution instituted between 1933 and 1965.
It might be just as valid to see the Trump victory as a spasm of reaction against popular forces that seek to reign in imperialism, racism (internal colonialism) while supporting the assertions to the rights and dignities of white men by “others”. It might be just as valid to see Trump’s victory in the popular vote count as a spur to be stronger, smarter, more committed, and more open about advancing our values (taking care not to be superior or condescending to those who lack our spirit perhaps because they are beset with burdens that may also have (or still do) make us shudder.
Institutions don’t run on or of themselves. We have to value them, support them, and fortify them by being woke (in the sense of wide awake and aware — especially about any of our tendencies to be overly self righteous, prideful, or contemptuous of other.)
A Republic by its very nature is always being tested. We’ve survived a number of them so far. This, I think, is just one more, albeit perhaps the most serious since 1860. Recall Lincoln in 1838. “As a nation of free men, we shall live through all time or die by suicide.” The Republican Party at the moment is choosing suicide, but that’s no reason to give the promise up. And they may well find that they ought to have heeded that old saying. “Be careful what you ask for; you may get it”.
I did very little of the readings. I did look up some of the supporting characters (like Roman Jakobson) whose name I had heard of but not picked up upon. (He was instrumental in getting Noam Chomsky a position at MIT in the early 1950s, but was a big influence upon structural Anthropology which relies (overly, maybe) on a lot of parallels with language. Marci Shore, he professor, is a very interesting character herself who I first “met” when she did a guest lecture for her husband, Timothy Snyder, for his Ukraine class while he was visiting Ukraine.
I became 85 this past December. There is much on this list of lessons on Tyranny that I practiced when I was younger. But now that I am on the downhill run, there is little I can do. Like you, this is the first time, I too am truly scared. If history is any teacher, this horrible mistake that has been made will take 20 years to correct. Of course, only if the American people work at it.
I too am 84 and I am scared . . . of extremism and woke insanity of the left -- Marxism in disguise. Having lived and escaped communism I can tell the signs.
DJT actually means 'The Golden Age' for he and his cronies.
I plan to keep up the resistance, follow Snyder's suggestions, and spread the word.
******Here's one thing everyone can help DC with:
Please sign this petition against Musk purchasing a community building in Adams Morgan that he plans to convert into a Private Club, ie. the Golden Age Club.
You will be asked to donate, but you can skip that and just sign. Many thanks. One small thing at a time can add up.
2026 is right around the corner. Change the House, Change the Country.
24 months from now, a new Congress will have been sworn in. I'm sure we can all name at least 10 members who do our country no favors. Change the House, Change the Country.
Your insightful knowledge, your willingness to persevere in shining the light on truth because of your love of our country is the reason I subscribed especially today, Martin Luther King Day - Remembering his quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
I wonder how we can follow-up on the idea that we need a shadow cabinet or that this "cabinet" can become a national network of committed citizens. I hope that we discover that this is possible.
The work on developing a structure for the "People's Cabinet" is going well. I'll get to detailing out everything relatively soon. You can check it out here as you wish, though be forewarned it's not a writer's site but just a somewhat messy "cabinet shop" (pun intended). The project is to figure this thing out and all the interested are invited to help. Grab a broom. https://dougshortridge.substack.com/p/peoples-cabinet-sandbox-1
One or more Dems with the funds to do so should buy a every single Democratic law maker, party official, and campaign worker a copy of “On Tyranny” and then set up book discussions on it. I don’t usually do audiobooks, but did get this one for a book study. It helped me stay focused, but I also had a hard copy that I read along with listening. I was just going to listen, and then I realized I wanted to highlight a lot of your points.
Your book is so concise yet informative that I have the hope that our Democratic officials would actually read it and consider it, if donors and other people who they know and admire would urge them to do so and would facilitate the discussions. The book discussions are important. That way they would have a deadline by which to get it read. Plus, it gives them yet another way to process its content.
By the way, the beautifully illustrated version is the third version of the book that I’ve bought. As a former special ed teacher, it occurred to me that the visual element would help many process the content differently and retain it, so I bought it in case I find people who need that.
After buying two copies of On Freedom, one each for my husband and me (to highlight in our own ways), I got a third copy when I signed up for a livestream by Dr. Snyder during his fall book tour. I donated that one to our local public library.
When I have a moment of despair or feel the need to don my “Black Is My Favorite Color” tee, I also recall lyrics from Paul Simon’s great “American Tune.” They are solace and a reminder that passivity is as useless as most anxiety. My mantra is “Assume Nothing. Do something.” Make it yours if you like. Here are a few of the Paul Simon lyrics. They might have been written by Tim Snyder as an epilogue to “Tyranny”. Being old and declining and watching your country descending too is hellish. I’m there. With gratitude,
Being a voice for democracy, for freedom and decency is new to many of us. What do we do now? What is next? How specifically should I respond to this moment? How should we respond together? As a white older Democrat guy, I’ve had it so easy and I sincerely welcome your voice as a guide. During these moments before the inauguration, we wait for Trump’s first moves. Then his administration becomes real. Then we get to work.
I think the best way to help at this point is to follow Snyder's "Shadow Cabinet" and "The People's Cabinet". If enough of us are on board with this idea, the politicians will take notice and execute.
I am working on a Substack structure to possibly facilitate the idea Snyder suggested in Shadow Cabinet; "More than this -- the members of the shadow cabinet should assert themselves in the media environment. They should not wait for journalists to ask them; they should set the tone of the debates themselves. They should have a mass format by which they can not only sound the warning bells but get across their own positions and advance their own policies — podcasts, for example." Here's a link to the "cabinet shop". https://dougshortridge.substack.com/p/peoples-cabinet-sandbox-1 It's a mess, be forewarned. But it's a shop not a writer's site. Grab a broom.
would be a huge overstep to say great minds think alike since you are the great mind and we are just fortunate, but in anticipation of today, took out my copy from the bookcase yesterday and reread last night. then read your column this morning. when you first wrote, did you suspect that america would travel so far down this road of tyranny? i could not have imagined, really. remember first reading 20 Lessons on an amtrak ride from DC to New York and thinking, "hmmm.... interesting." now thinking terrifying. thank you.
Irene, better if you would have written that you did not suspect that America would travel so far down this road of "freedom?" It is the left that has been practicing "tyranny" in the form of coercive policies, censorship, and lawfare, not to mention pushing the woke insanity and transgender lunacy.
Give me some examples of "the left" coercive policies. You experience reality much differently than I do. Take your time. Please give me an example of these policies, who proposed or coerced us to follow them and how you see them as coercive.
In my reading of history, the USA has not had a leftist party since the early 70s.
If you think the Democrats are "the left" you fail to see they are Center Right. According to your line of thinking, that means Trump and MAGA are even further extreme right wing/fascist. How are we supposed to take you seriously?
I will spend part of my day finishing your book On Freedom. Next up On Tyranny. Thank you for your wisdom and for imparting your knowledge with such ease. A subscription to your substack is a gift that keeps on giving. 🙏
Thank you for this! Took my beautifully illustrated copy of On Tyranny off my bookshelf, TV off, will read it all day long. It's a frigid day in Wisconsin. We can handle it. Hearts are cold and hurting, but the thaw will come again. Was up all night praying for our nation. Time to wake up, America. Guard our minds and hearts. On Freedom.
Thank you. I have a copy of your post 12/22/22 from the Carnegie Institute taped, highlighted and for my older eyes used fat magic markers for the title of each lesson on my kitchen cabinets. Best regards
Thank you, Professor Snyder, for constructive advice on this first day of Donald Trump's second presidency. Last week, friends and I muddled thinking through what to do in the coming years. Today, we have a road map.
I’ve bought On Tyranny and On Freedom in hardcopy even though I have them on Kindle. Wanted to have copies no one could easily delete. Today, before noon Eastern, I am in mourning: Dressed in sackcloth, covered in ashes, on the verge of tears. Today, after noon, I am resolute. These are the times that try our souls — stand fast.
Shari S - I appreciated your comment, "Wanted to have copies no one could easily delete." I am very concerned that 'internet archives' and files stored 'in the cloud' are susceptible to being Memory-holed (as in Orwell's "1984"). Hard copies can also be destroyed (as in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"), but at least it would take more than a few evil clicks of a keyboard.
At the ripe old age of 84, I can say honestly that this is the first time I've been truly scared -- and I lived through all the government's lies during Vietnam. Thanks for this column as I needed these reminders right now.
And how did you feel during October of 1962?
Half kidding. I’m nearly 80 and that terror was of an entirely different nature than this one.
It is a deep concern that half the nation is about to metaphorically raise their hands and repeat after Him, “I pledge allegiance to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and to the oligarchy they head. Half a nation under Trump with liberty and justice for those who bend the knee and the hell with the rest of you.”
But history proves that ‘we the people’ at whatever time and in whatever place have never taken autocracy lying down for very long. From Spartacus to George Washington to Vladimir Zelenskyy, even in when individual rebellions failed, the concept that we all have certain rights as human beings has never been fully extinguished. And now, in this age of the internet, the forces which support this are equally able get their message out as those opposed.
My only real concern is that I may not live long enough to see this one through. But I remain optimistic.
Words I might have written myself, James. The greedy and self-serving are typically the early adopters and miners of new technologies, while the kind and compassionate lag behind. But increasingly, as you suggest, genuinely wise people will also deploy modern digital communications effectively, and thereby help open hearts and minds. I, too, remain optimistic.
And I also remember the Cuban missile crisis. I'm 78.
I lived through Vietnam as well and often wonder if it was worse then or now and I have to say now. Our institutions were stronger, we didn't have fact free social media and Nixon, as big a slime ball as he was, at least he was competent.
Nixon, as big a crook as he was, still believed in the system.
Maybe our institutions were stronger in the 60s and 70s. But maybe not.
Noam Chomsky was always very good about offering a hopeful perspective.
It took years to mobilize large swaths of the public against the Vietnam War. But since then, resistance to foreign adventurism has been able to mobilize quickly (probably circumventing similar adventures in Nicaragua and other places). This has been true even without a draft. (Yes, the US still uses proxies for its worst dirty work, but Gaza might be a spiritual hinge point here too.)
Parallel to resistance to the Vietnam War was the Civil Rights movement (ongoing) and the ongoing struggle to recognize the full personhood of women. It’s easy to ignore (or forget) all the hard won progress or to imagine that things have always been this way - and that they will somehow always will stay the same or get worse. In some ways we are at this point today because in the course of “healing” after the divisions of the sixties neoliberals (in the soft sense) became too complacent about earlier reforms regarding wealth distribution instituted between 1933 and 1965.
It might be just as valid to see the Trump victory as a spasm of reaction against popular forces that seek to reign in imperialism, racism (internal colonialism) while supporting the assertions to the rights and dignities of white men by “others”. It might be just as valid to see Trump’s victory in the popular vote count as a spur to be stronger, smarter, more committed, and more open about advancing our values (taking care not to be superior or condescending to those who lack our spirit perhaps because they are beset with burdens that may also have (or still do) make us shudder.
Institutions don’t run on or of themselves. We have to value them, support them, and fortify them by being woke (in the sense of wide awake and aware — especially about any of our tendencies to be overly self righteous, prideful, or contemptuous of other.)
A Republic by its very nature is always being tested. We’ve survived a number of them so far. This, I think, is just one more, albeit perhaps the most serious since 1860. Recall Lincoln in 1838. “As a nation of free men, we shall live through all time or die by suicide.” The Republican Party at the moment is choosing suicide, but that’s no reason to give the promise up. And they may well find that they ought to have heeded that old saying. “Be careful what you ask for; you may get it”.
Such an informative reply.
I recently discovered Dr. Synder and adore his work. Added bonus - his Substack is brilliant. I will use this as a source of clarity.
You might like this too.
https://online.yale.edu/courses/european-intellectual-history-nietzsche
I’ve been listening to this while stacking wood or going on walks. (It’s easier to download the Apple Podcast than the YouTubes)
Okay, that looks incredible. But the reading list is huuuge.
I did very little of the readings. I did look up some of the supporting characters (like Roman Jakobson) whose name I had heard of but not picked up upon. (He was instrumental in getting Noam Chomsky a position at MIT in the early 1950s, but was a big influence upon structural Anthropology which relies (overly, maybe) on a lot of parallels with language. Marci Shore, he professor, is a very interesting character herself who I first “met” when she did a guest lecture for her husband, Timothy Snyder, for his Ukraine class while he was visiting Ukraine.
Fear is the great mind killer (A line from Dune.) And it is, because it immobilizes us. Suggest re-reading the post and acting on it.
I’m also a senior citizen and I feel sick in a way I’ve never experienced.
I do too. Like an incredible injustice has been done.
I am writing another reply. I remembered an institution that I could lend support to even at my age. My local library.
I became 85 this past December. There is much on this list of lessons on Tyranny that I practiced when I was younger. But now that I am on the downhill run, there is little I can do. Like you, this is the first time, I too am truly scared. If history is any teacher, this horrible mistake that has been made will take 20 years to correct. Of course, only if the American people work at it.
I too am 84 and I am scared . . . of extremism and woke insanity of the left -- Marxism in disguise. Having lived and escaped communism I can tell the signs.
Being woke is not insanity. It is recognizing reality and truth.
If you think the crew Trump has assembled would ever allow the worker bees to take over the means of production, you don’t know them very well.
DJT actually means 'The Golden Age' for he and his cronies.
I plan to keep up the resistance, follow Snyder's suggestions, and spread the word.
******Here's one thing everyone can help DC with:
Please sign this petition against Musk purchasing a community building in Adams Morgan that he plans to convert into a Private Club, ie. the Golden Age Club.
You will be asked to donate, but you can skip that and just sign. Many thanks. One small thing at a time can add up.
https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-sale-of-the-line-hotel-to-elon-musk
2026 is right around the corner. Change the House, Change the Country.
24 months from now, a new Congress will have been sworn in. I'm sure we can all name at least 10 members who do our country no favors. Change the House, Change the Country.
. . . And SAFEGUARD OUR ELECTIONS !
I just hope we still have a liveable planet.
And change the senate too!
Bless you Mr. Snyder. You are a light in the tunnel.
Your insightful knowledge, your willingness to persevere in shining the light on truth because of your love of our country is the reason I subscribed especially today, Martin Luther King Day - Remembering his quote: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
I wonder how we can follow-up on the idea that we need a shadow cabinet or that this "cabinet" can become a national network of committed citizens. I hope that we discover that this is possible.
The work on developing a structure for the "People's Cabinet" is going well. I'll get to detailing out everything relatively soon. You can check it out here as you wish, though be forewarned it's not a writer's site but just a somewhat messy "cabinet shop" (pun intended). The project is to figure this thing out and all the interested are invited to help. Grab a broom. https://dougshortridge.substack.com/p/peoples-cabinet-sandbox-1
I suspect Senate and House Dem leadership need to hear about the “Shadow Cabinet” (or People’s Cabinet) from us.
One or more Dems with the funds to do so should buy a every single Democratic law maker, party official, and campaign worker a copy of “On Tyranny” and then set up book discussions on it. I don’t usually do audiobooks, but did get this one for a book study. It helped me stay focused, but I also had a hard copy that I read along with listening. I was just going to listen, and then I realized I wanted to highlight a lot of your points.
Your book is so concise yet informative that I have the hope that our Democratic officials would actually read it and consider it, if donors and other people who they know and admire would urge them to do so and would facilitate the discussions. The book discussions are important. That way they would have a deadline by which to get it read. Plus, it gives them yet another way to process its content.
By the way, the beautifully illustrated version is the third version of the book that I’ve bought. As a former special ed teacher, it occurred to me that the visual element would help many process the content differently and retain it, so I bought it in case I find people who need that.
After buying two copies of On Freedom, one each for my husband and me (to highlight in our own ways), I got a third copy when I signed up for a livestream by Dr. Snyder during his fall book tour. I donated that one to our local public library.
When I have a moment of despair or feel the need to don my “Black Is My Favorite Color” tee, I also recall lyrics from Paul Simon’s great “American Tune.” They are solace and a reminder that passivity is as useless as most anxiety. My mantra is “Assume Nothing. Do something.” Make it yours if you like. Here are a few of the Paul Simon lyrics. They might have been written by Tim Snyder as an epilogue to “Tyranny”. Being old and declining and watching your country descending too is hellish. I’m there. With gratitude,
**********
And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong
https://youtu.be/JxEzMW3KTng?si=8jVVc-uspyjRi5-X
Ouch.
Thank you for the welcome reminder! Much needed today!
Being a voice for democracy, for freedom and decency is new to many of us. What do we do now? What is next? How specifically should I respond to this moment? How should we respond together? As a white older Democrat guy, I’ve had it so easy and I sincerely welcome your voice as a guide. During these moments before the inauguration, we wait for Trump’s first moves. Then his administration becomes real. Then we get to work.
I think the best way to help at this point is to follow Snyder's "Shadow Cabinet" and "The People's Cabinet". If enough of us are on board with this idea, the politicians will take notice and execute.
I am working on a Substack structure to possibly facilitate the idea Snyder suggested in Shadow Cabinet; "More than this -- the members of the shadow cabinet should assert themselves in the media environment. They should not wait for journalists to ask them; they should set the tone of the debates themselves. They should have a mass format by which they can not only sound the warning bells but get across their own positions and advance their own policies — podcasts, for example." Here's a link to the "cabinet shop". https://dougshortridge.substack.com/p/peoples-cabinet-sandbox-1 It's a mess, be forewarned. But it's a shop not a writer's site. Grab a broom.
would be a huge overstep to say great minds think alike since you are the great mind and we are just fortunate, but in anticipation of today, took out my copy from the bookcase yesterday and reread last night. then read your column this morning. when you first wrote, did you suspect that america would travel so far down this road of tyranny? i could not have imagined, really. remember first reading 20 Lessons on an amtrak ride from DC to New York and thinking, "hmmm.... interesting." now thinking terrifying. thank you.
Irene, better if you would have written that you did not suspect that America would travel so far down this road of "freedom?" It is the left that has been practicing "tyranny" in the form of coercive policies, censorship, and lawfare, not to mention pushing the woke insanity and transgender lunacy.
Give me some examples of "the left" coercive policies. You experience reality much differently than I do. Take your time. Please give me an example of these policies, who proposed or coerced us to follow them and how you see them as coercive.
In my reading of history, the USA has not had a leftist party since the early 70s.
If you think the Democrats are "the left" you fail to see they are Center Right. According to your line of thinking, that means Trump and MAGA are even further extreme right wing/fascist. How are we supposed to take you seriously?
Thank you. Good day to remind us....
I will spend part of my day finishing your book On Freedom. Next up On Tyranny. Thank you for your wisdom and for imparting your knowledge with such ease. A subscription to your substack is a gift that keeps on giving. 🙏
Thank you for this! Took my beautifully illustrated copy of On Tyranny off my bookshelf, TV off, will read it all day long. It's a frigid day in Wisconsin. We can handle it. Hearts are cold and hurting, but the thaw will come again. Was up all night praying for our nation. Time to wake up, America. Guard our minds and hearts. On Freedom.
Thank you. I have a copy of your post 12/22/22 from the Carnegie Institute taped, highlighted and for my older eyes used fat magic markers for the title of each lesson on my kitchen cabinets. Best regards
The Richton Park Public Library System has this pdf. Dr. Martin Luther King Speeches
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/twenty-lessons-on-tyranny?r=fa5ey&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Thank you, Professor Snyder, for constructive advice on this first day of Donald Trump's second presidency. Last week, friends and I muddled thinking through what to do in the coming years. Today, we have a road map.
I’ve bought On Tyranny and On Freedom in hardcopy even though I have them on Kindle. Wanted to have copies no one could easily delete. Today, before noon Eastern, I am in mourning: Dressed in sackcloth, covered in ashes, on the verge of tears. Today, after noon, I am resolute. These are the times that try our souls — stand fast.
Shari S - I appreciated your comment, "Wanted to have copies no one could easily delete." I am very concerned that 'internet archives' and files stored 'in the cloud' are susceptible to being Memory-holed (as in Orwell's "1984"). Hard copies can also be destroyed (as in Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"), but at least it would take more than a few evil clicks of a keyboard.
Your comment takes my breath away.