I don’t have many paid subscriptions, but for you, Dr. Snyder, I do. You tell the naked truth, which is what I’m after. I’m scared because I’m old (77) and poor (medical bankruptcy) BUT I read books, want to learn more all the time, AND I will write (because I can) and contact my legislators (Colorado) constantly to urge them to FIGHT for me and my fellow AMERICAN citizens. Especially while we STILL have an America. Thank you for YOUR support and direction. Golden.
@76 but without medical bankruptcy (I live in Canada), I am a ditto, Dana. Best wishes and good luck to you. Good luck to us all as we enter darkening times. Most unfortunately, it seems that the founders were correct in fearing the power of 'factions'. It turns out that the enormous disparities in wealth evolved under increasingly unregulated capitalism and self-serving propaganda create the most dangerous factions of all, as wealth has steadily displaced citizenry as the main credential (in the most astute way that Prof Snyder has put it).
Good to meet you, John Spence, Canadian!! I’m thinking of starting a newsletter. BUT I don’t want the accompanying paperwork. I will continue to respond here, write meaningful posts on Facebook (that really happens) AND on Medium behind their paywall (it’s something!). Truth is, though, I prefer writing fiction - wrote 3 full-on novels while I was sick. Yeah, I entertain myself. BUT the other work I’ll be doing is calling ALL my reps in DC and Denver! That’s serious. We USED to talk/scream about the great wealth inequality. Now we just put our heads down and just try to survive. I’m fightin’ PISSED OFF now. So I will be HEARD from. You in?
Online communities like this one are invaluable. Try talking to friends or family and you get a blank stare.
Here you can hang out the laundry without shame. If you’re concerned about interlopers, get over it or create a false identity. You won’t be the first or the last to do so.
I still have an ego and prefer risk-taking. It’s my way of putting “skin in the game!”
Babette Alvin, I TRULY appreciate your response. And YES, we must keep fighting the good fight. It IS worth it. Blood, sweat, many tears - YES! Bring it on!
Can you say in the words of papa bush ‘trickle down policy was Voodoo economics!’ Nothing trickled down but stayed with the obscene wealthy due to tax cuts for the wealthy!
You'd be eligible for Medicare in the US; I'm totally confused by the US-citizen's refusal to continue to believe in reality, and who then jump up and down for make-believe nonsense!
Nathaniel Perry, FYI - 2/3rds of all bankruptcies in the US OF A are INDEED medical. So I don’t know what or who crawled into YOUR sense of reality, but quit fooling yourself! SHEESH! MY reality was having 25 - twenty-five - highly specialized endoscopic procedures ALL due to Very Painful infections in my liver. AND further - do NOT go to alcoholism as the cause - CUZ alcoholics do NOT get liver transplants. They can’t “cut the mustard,” so to speak. AND UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) who regulate the ENTIRE transplant system in the US - they’re a nonprofit that make organ transplants HAPPEN in the US of A. Got it, bub? I LIVED every painful second, minute, many hours of MY reality, bub. Get an effing grip.
I am sorry for the medical hardships Dana. You read, so you are vastly richer than the people who've cast this net of horror over planet Earth, and the vast numbers of the sane among us. I admire you vastly, and I appreciate your supportive words, and actions. Stay well!
Thanks for the personal note! It means a lot. I’m quite isolated because most of my neighbors do NOT read and think I’m just crazy. Well, yeah, I have medical PTSD so I’m sort of like a cocked gun. It’s HARD to be me these days. I’ve been “adopted” by the Jewish folks in Denver, so we get together - however briefly - and eat lunch on Tuesdays. Building on that. Reading “Redacted” by Christopher Steele now. HIGHLY recommend. I bought it - couldn’t wait on library! Excellent!
Dana, I am close to 80 and live in Va. I read because information to me us power and mu paid subscription, with Timothy Snyder is worth ever penny. The way he analysis what we are going through in Our moument here is Our Country helps me look at the possibilities of what might happen and how I and the new Indivisble group, that I will attend this Thursday might plan the interventions we will do to protect Our Democracy. I am not giving up, I an looking for ways to positively block/ intervene on the coming destructive regime.
Do not give up hope, there are more of us out here.
Helen, thank you soooo much for your message. I too am not giving up. Let’s stay in touch - if you’re on Facebook, we can write privately on Messenger. At this point I feel very much alone. BUT I’m not giving up! Far from it. Thanks again just for BEING THERE - and speaking out. - Dana
I'm all for keeping 'Trumpomuskovia' going. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but Trump will hate sharing the word with Musk. It will grind at him, as will every other attempt to put Musk up there with him as co-president.
And, yes, 'Muskovia' has that Soviet/Russia ring to it. It's damn near perfect.
It's my fervent hope that Trump will begin feeling that Musk and his billions are taking a bit more of the limelight than he really should. Musk ought to recall that there was one star of "The Apprentice", not two.
Prior to reading Dr. Snyder’s first article about Trumpomuskovia, I had been calling them Doon Mump (the first two letters of each name, with the order switched for each). Seeing your analysis of Trump’s annoyance, I wanted to share.
I think it is important to understand how and when Musk became compromised. After several high-profile GOPs were removed from Twitter because they used misinformation in an attempt to overthrow the government, Musk became a vocal free speech absolutist. He enjoyed the online attention, and saw himself as America's savior from political censorship.
He enjoyed the attention so much that he publicly announced that he intended to buy Twitter for $40 billion, twice its actual value. And then he signed a purchase contract with Twitter. Immediately regretting his impulsiveness, he filed a suit in Delaware to break the contract, but the judge ruled that he was required to buy the company.
Even for somebody as preposterously wealthy as Musk, $40 billion is a lot of cash. To raise that money, he needed to sell Tesla stock and likely lose controlling interest in the company, or find other investors. Banks didn't want to jump in, because their security would be worth half of the purchase price. And not many people beyond banks want to immediately lose half their investment by purchasing stock at half its market value (and now worth less than $10 billion).
Musk as such needed to raise money, and he needed to raise it from those who did not care if they lost their investment. One of his investors is, for example, the Saudi Arabian government. Another principle investor is 8VC, a venture capital firm, who's leading personnel include the sons of Vadim Moshkovich and Petr Aven. Moskovich and Aven are inner circle, Kremlin oligarchs.
And literally on the day he purchased it, Musk's Twitter habits changed dramatically. He went from apolitical and self-apointed free-speech warrior to Russian propagandist overnight. His postings became more frequent, more political, more right-wing, and more available to the public overnight as X started amplifying Moscow's voice. And we have now learned that during the time leading up to the purchase, and then for the next two years up till now, Musk was in regular contact with Putin. This is not coincidental.
It appears from public evidence that Musk is not simply "useful idiot" but rather a willing and intentional participant in Moscow's anti-American activities. The cost of their cash was a commitment to destroy US institutions. First, it was through propaganda, and now his unwritten Russian responsibility is shifting to destruction of critical institutional bureaucracies.
And though his impulsiveness created these circumstances, I hardly doubt that Musk is disappointed with the result as he intoxicates himself on his rapidly increasing power.
Musk doesn't strike me as a useful idiot, rather as an extraordinarily smart and lucky entrepreneur who's found a man obsessed with celebrity and money and power who will help him (Musk) get even richer. Putin, I think, is sitting in the owners' box and cheering from the sidelines.
Thank you for this sad road map. Well done - and not paranoid or fanciful.
Alas, there is a fourth scenario - existential foreign threats with the US unable to respond. For example, seeing the new domestic turmoil in the US, China attacks and takes Taiwan. Self-handicapped we are unable to defend the island. Next there is the Philippines - or Hawaii. Like Gulliver we are big, but bound down by Lilliputians/
Dear Dr. Snyder. I'm in total agreement with your comment "But, in the end, all of that will fail" in reference to the collapse of the rule of dictatorships. The Trump regime will also fail - Trump lacks management skills, temperament, and a vision of the future that is beyond his own selfish interests. The challenge ahead is absorbing and rebuilding from the disasters he will create on his path to failure.
I would like to agree with you, but I truly believe that T is under the "guidance" of other people like the Heritage Foundation. He is easily manipulated and will do their bidding because they have convinced him that he will go down in history as the greatest ruler and God will love him and the people will adore him and it will make him rich.
Thanks for your post. Having come from a Jewish family, it really pains me to see so many Jews among the oligarchy here, but who got their start in Russia (and possibly Israel). Greed and power, I guess. I never thought I would hate my own people.
I am sure this is unrelated to the Jewish faith...you make a good point about Russia. When all is said and done, there is only one country in the Middle East where people can Vote for change - and that is Israel...
Remember that there are also many many Jews not among the oligarchy, many people who 'got their start in Russia' but are not of the TrumpEvilMuskPutin (TEMP!) cult/faction. Don't hate. Act. (paraphrasing Obama?)
Around 79% of Jewish votes went to Harris/Walz - far more than the 46% of white women who did so. Something to keep in mind. Coming from a (Jewish) white woman.
Timothy Snyder, along with your depiction of 'Trumpomuskovia' there needs to be a historical context to how the U.S. got where it is. What has happened to democracy in the country since the early 1980's? What have always been the fundamental divides in the US? What were the results on the majority of the people? In addition to the transfer of wealth, what about the impacts of the technological revolution and how it was managed and not?
Cost of living, wages, healthcare, education, housing, social interaction, economic security... what about the people? Why do most Americans mistrust the government?
Citizens United (2010) - Justice Roberts' gift to the autocrats. Lets politicians be bought by the wealthiest amongst us and to further hide dark money donations under campaign shenanigans like the all-mighty PACs.
I’ve wondered that myself. Then I think about how Reagan depicted the government as incompetent. That’s been the Republican rallying cry since the early 80s and the government has never effectively challenged that, despite the fact that that the US government can and does some things extremely well.
I used to think that people who worked in the federal workforce were mediocre folks who couldn't get jobs elsewhere. Then I read Michael Lewis's superb book "The Fifth Risk". I learned that these federal employees are the ones we often depend on to literally save our lives!
I recommend this book to anyone who still thinks it doesn't matter if entire federal departments like the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the Food & Drug Administration, or the Dept. of Energy are done away with - via Project 2025.
Thanks for the recommendation on the book "The Fifth Risk " by
Michael Lewis. I will added to my list. My list of books and substacks plus everyone's comments would mean I would never sleep, so I will do what I can at almost 80 years of age!
AMEN, Susan. The Rs have used mistrust of regulations and bureaucracy to cause massive discontent with government across broad swaths of the American public, even though bureaucracy is absolutely necessary for government to serve the people effectively by dampening the (often selfish) wishes of individuals against in favour of the broader needs of 'the people'. It is hard to know where to set the line. Clearly most want bank robbery suppressed. However, in other matters, e.g., excess profiteering in the 'healthcare industry' (i.e., robbing policy holders) unfolded slowly and mostly out of sight. Only governments can deal with such things. In his new book Y N Harari provides an excellent analysis of such things.
SCOTUS deciding in Citizens United that more money, more political power. (But one can argue that it has always been this way, and that we are seeing the emergence of a new monied group, and that the old money/old style politics had been in power long enough to hide the process better).
I see merit in that argument, but never before has the process run so far amok as it seems to be now. Coupled with what seems to be widespread inability to smell and be concerned about LIES the public interest is snookered.
Not until over $60 Billion in business related Medicare fraud did the fbi turn their attention to investigating the so called medical practices that scammed the Medicare funds. However once the scammers were on notice, they filed for bankruptcy and opened the same scheme under a new name! White collar crime pays! Trump is a poster child for the practice!
'“Dark Money,” 'Jane Mayer tells the tale of the Koch brothers. In' “Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade Against the New Deal,” 'the historian Kim Phillips-Fein shows how a small group of businessmen initiated a decades-long effort to build popular support for free market economics. The political scientist Steven M. Teles writes about the chemicals magnate John M. Olin in' “The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement.”
'Power consolidation sometimes seems like a perpetual motion machine, continually widening the gap between those who have power and money and those who don’t. Still, “Democracy in Chains” leaves me with hope: Perhaps as books like MacLean’s continue to shine a light on important truths, Americans will begin to realize they need to pay more attention and not succumb to the cynical view that known liars make the best leaders.' (NYTimes, book review of 'Democracy in Chains' by Heather Boushey) See link below. Sorry that it could not be gifted.
Today's Washington Post has a solid report on the front page: 'How billionaire Charles Koch’s network won a 40-year war to curb regulation"
"A seismic Supreme Court ruling has ushered in a new era of diminished federal power. The next Trump administration hopes to capitalize on it." See gifted link below.
Sorry but I don't think most people distrust the government. They may not be happy with certain aspects of the local, state or federal government but is that the same as mistrust? Yes, of course, there are groups of people who are mistrustful -- for cause -- but do they represent the general population?
I don't know the sources of your thought that most Americans don't distrust the government. Solid sources may educate your belief on the matter.
'Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024'
'Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has increased modestly since 2023. As of April 2024, 22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%). Last year, 16% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time, which was among the lowest measures in nearly seven decades of polling.' (Pew Research Center) See link below for details regarding this report.
Chipping in briefly, I think it is a little more nuanced than ‘trust’. Folks do see government getting in their way through regulations. Every instance of things seeming to be more complicated than they are needed to be, leads folks to mistrust that the gov’t is looking after the best interests of ALL. Think for example of a farmer who is suddenly prevented from dumping his barn run-off into a creek from which people draw drinking water downstream. I’ve experienced the irrational response of such a fellow who protested that his “ grandfather always did it that way” (back when only a handful of people lived downstream and there was enough creek between him and them for it to clean itself up before it got to them).
Consider the 20 and 30 somethings who voted in this election have witnessed a disfunctional federal government where defaulting on federal financial obligations has been used by gop repeatedly! 45 boasted the best infrastructure bill ever and like all his other boasts was all gas and no $$$!
Stalin characterized Trotsky's weakness in this way: "Trotsky is an actor who thinks he's the hero. I don't make that mistake." It will be interesting to see whether Trump and his collaborators make this mistake or don't. I suspect they will.
It will be interesting to see if these actors think they are more than riders of the wave that Tolstoy deemed all "great men". Actually, we already know they think they are. How many will be hurt and killed in the process of their demise?
Thank you Justice Roberts. Your Citizens United ruling in 2010 could not have caught you by surprise. Now you've allowed citizens and non-citizens to buy the politicians they like best. This degradation in our democracy lands squarely at your feet.
I do find this useful. I like the new name for this dangerous disaster which is fast brewing. I am already doing what I can to resist it including emailing my senators daily asking them to block Gabbard, Patel, and Hegseth. I am giving your books, On Freedom and On Tyranny, away for Christmas to family and friends. I am writing postcards for the special election this January in Virginia. I am not giving up.
One question. Some of the Trump voters and the non-voters are going to become disenchanted with the regime. I suspect that might happen fairly quickly. What happens then?
We need to be proposing alternatives that benefit the general public in the U.S., which will probably involve things that most of the Democrats are afraid to do (possibly including a national health insurance system, returning to a progressive tax system ["Tax the Rich"], major improvements in labor rights, effective steps about housing costs, etc.). Bernie Sanders and AOC would probably have some additional ideas. We also need to say, in terms of daily life rather than just at the policy level, how these alternatives could work to relieve some of the economic stresses that Trump exploited in his campaign but that Trump is likely to make worse. Have alternatives out there when the disenchantment sets in.
I've been wondering the same thing -- what happens when the Trump voters become aware and uncomfortable? Of course it depends on how that happens and whether the regime is able to distract them away from the truth a little longer to buy themselves more time.
But what if they can't and the cover is pulled back to reveal the lies? Trump voters have likely been charter members of their own social media cesspools, so if they begin to complain and poison the wells with their own disgust, the unrest that follows may begin to spread like wildfire through those cesspools to others who haven't awakened yet.
Trumpomuskovia could crack and crumble very quickly after that, with the people at the top fighting amongst themselves and looking for a way out.
I've been reading multiple books on my favorite forms of martial arts and self defense since the election (mainly because of the help with a change in mindset they provide) and one* divides the Timeline of Violence into these parts:
• Non-conflict : no evidence of aggression yet
• Conflict-aware: an adrenalized state; aware of a problem or situation, not sure if it's directed to you
• Pre-conflict: Aware it's directed to you, no action yet; maybe verbal abuse
• Conflict: Assault has begun
• Post-conflict: after assault has ended, what needs to be done
Seeing through this lens is helpful. Trump's people will begin to see the lies at different times and will go through different phases of denial, etc. Some will want to become violent. Being aware of what to look for and what to do about it on a personal level snaps me out of one (less helpful) state into a much better one.
* Krav Maga; Real world solutions to real world violence, by Gershon Ben Keren, Tuttle Publishing, 2014
Thanks for this . We have to understand that some Trump voters firmly believe they are fighting for democracy. I just finished reading, The Way Between, by Rivera Sun. It’s the first in a coming of age series . It’s a bit like Lord of the Rings, but uses non-violent means to topple oppression. I believe it draws a lot from Martial Arts. The lead character is an eleven-year-old red-headed girl. As a former redhead, hooked 😊
There are, as you know, always multiple paths (read Sun Tzu: "The Art of War", or any good book on "The Scientific Method"). I always try to find several that fit the context of the Issue at hand. A complementary method to violence, "Mindfulness" is introduced in this book: "Search Inside Yourself": The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan , Daniel Goleman, et al. | 24. April 2012
I know it sounds somewhat Cheesy, but as a 40 year veteran to meditation, it added a lot to my "self defense routines" ...I myself practice Tai Chi Chuan.
How fun to find a like-minded traveler! I trained in Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan/Push Hands, both of which I loved for the way they developed sensitivity to another's energy approaching. Krav Maga is a more recent addition.
For many years I have practiced meditation during hands-on treatment of my patients, which always included therapeutic music in the background (as well as in my office waiting room), and sometimes included singing bowls, too (which is a kind of vibrational or sound therapy). I supplemented my medical school training with these modalities, and of course as I treat patients with them, the same modalities affect me, too.
Martial Arts and the other forms of treatment listed have grounded me like nothing else. We each find our path. Thanks for sharing yours.
1. The Oligarchs thought they could control Hitler; eventually they learned Hitler controlled them:
"According to University of Edinburgh historian Stephan Malinowski, contributor to a new BBC Two series, The Rise of the Nazis, a small group of powerful actors played a critical role in the creation of the Third Reich. . . 'Many members of the German elites thought he was going to be the useful idiot who was going to play their games. They thought he could be controlled. And I come back to this metaphor of the horseman riding the horse, except that within three or four months, they discovered that they were the horse and that Hitler was the horseman.' ”
2. It is difficult to imagine Vance having the intellectual and strategic acumen of Putin; in other words, Vance is a pawn on a chess board whereas Putin, the former KGB agent, is the opposing chess Champion strategically moving his chessmen to undermine his opponent;
3. Instability is the key word - nothing will be stable for the next four years except instability;
I've now read the piece that you suggested, Andrew. WOW! Man does it ever have parallels to our time and a lot of history that I did not know. Clearly, tRump has his own band of Goering, Goebbels, Eicke, Himmler, etc look alikes to foist on the people. Like the German elites, the Senate will likely allow much of it. What can stop it now?
Thanks for the thoughts and reference of above. Other than causing the often-brutal deaths of 35-85M people, what could possibly go wrong? I feel as though we are all teetering on an edge now, with the steady collapse of the 'new world order' and the common understanding of both patriotism and democracy that I grew up with.
As our friend Ruth Ben-Ghiat has so aptly pointed out, the first inmates at Auschwitz were not Jews, they were Hitler's political opponents. I'll be looking forward to sharing your good company, Dr. Snyder, and that of other folks I deeply admire such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Adam Schiff, and so many others at whatever camp is erected by the rulers of Trumpomuskovia. They'll need a large camp, or many smaller camps, but they're no doubt up to the task. Our trials will be swift and efficient, I'm sure. All very businesslike. Welcome to Trumpomuskovia, where arbeit macht frei.
I am not sure how it will be done, but a number of truly patriotic Americans are going to need protection from some manifestation of the public over the next couple of years ... and I fear that this will involve more than legal challenges, given the obvious ideological corruption of the "scRotus".
The real vulnerability of virtually anybody is not being convicted with the conviction upheld, but being ruined by the high cost of protracted litigation. Trump has been a specialist of abusive litigation in his real estate business and will certainly be happy to apply the model to his "enemies". It doesn't matter whether you prevail in the end or not: the cost and abrasion of lengthy litigation is enough to "punish" anybody.
Yes, DT is a master of this use of the legal system! He plays it well in his own trials to the point where all charges against him have gone poof! It is an amazing and horrifying reality.
Perhaps an extended visit abroad will make sense for some? In the past, the cause of democracy has benefited when some high value targets of fascist regimes expatriate.
The saddest question is: How many Americans know or even care that their country will soon be run by a bunch of right wing oligarchs for their own advantage? Which is sadder, that so many Americans don’t know or they don’t care?
Carol, the uninformed canot be expected to care about how something impacts their lives because they can not predict what might come next. This is why so much has and is being done to our educational system by the conservative powers that be and those banning books. There position is that the masses need to be uninformed and with limited education! This has been in the works over the past 4 plus years!
Our jobs include how to limit book banming and provide a way of getting information on way is taking place and hiw it impacts the daily lives of everyone.
I agree and believe that once we see the "shit for brains" cabinet of fools heedlessly and maliciously inserted and suspended in the Swamp of DC, we will experience what Einstein (and Brown) saw. The minuscule forces in the political quagmire will excite them to "Brownian Motion" and they will smash into each other in a constant bumper car like dance of chaos and incompetence. Let's just hope they don't break too much before the shatter explosively into a cloud of their own fecal brain matter.
Thanks, Bruce. Yes, really I do ... even though it stunned me that somebody like Gaetz was put forward as a serious candidate for AG, before the comedy became obvious. Really what else can be do except try to see the humour in it and hope that there is enough for others to see it as a comedy show?
I don’t have many paid subscriptions, but for you, Dr. Snyder, I do. You tell the naked truth, which is what I’m after. I’m scared because I’m old (77) and poor (medical bankruptcy) BUT I read books, want to learn more all the time, AND I will write (because I can) and contact my legislators (Colorado) constantly to urge them to FIGHT for me and my fellow AMERICAN citizens. Especially while we STILL have an America. Thank you for YOUR support and direction. Golden.
@76 but without medical bankruptcy (I live in Canada), I am a ditto, Dana. Best wishes and good luck to you. Good luck to us all as we enter darkening times. Most unfortunately, it seems that the founders were correct in fearing the power of 'factions'. It turns out that the enormous disparities in wealth evolved under increasingly unregulated capitalism and self-serving propaganda create the most dangerous factions of all, as wealth has steadily displaced citizenry as the main credential (in the most astute way that Prof Snyder has put it).
Good to meet you, John Spence, Canadian!! I’m thinking of starting a newsletter. BUT I don’t want the accompanying paperwork. I will continue to respond here, write meaningful posts on Facebook (that really happens) AND on Medium behind their paywall (it’s something!). Truth is, though, I prefer writing fiction - wrote 3 full-on novels while I was sick. Yeah, I entertain myself. BUT the other work I’ll be doing is calling ALL my reps in DC and Denver! That’s serious. We USED to talk/scream about the great wealth inequality. Now we just put our heads down and just try to survive. I’m fightin’ PISSED OFF now. So I will be HEARD from. You in?
I’m in, Dana! btw, have you seen this interesting and mind-boggling graphic? https://substack.com/@sustainablyspeaking/note/c-79279007?utm_source=notes-share-action
Online communities like this one are invaluable. Try talking to friends or family and you get a blank stare.
Here you can hang out the laundry without shame. If you’re concerned about interlopers, get over it or create a false identity. You won’t be the first or the last to do so.
I still have an ego and prefer risk-taking. It’s my way of putting “skin in the game!”
Babette Alvin, I TRULY appreciate your response. And YES, we must keep fighting the good fight. It IS worth it. Blood, sweat, many tears - YES! Bring it on!
Can you say in the words of papa bush ‘trickle down policy was Voodoo economics!’ Nothing trickled down but stayed with the obscene wealthy due to tax cuts for the wealthy!
Only bad behavior trickles down and all around
I know what trickled down. The middle class trickled all the way down to poverty. Reading comprehension trickled down to a 6th grade level.
You'd be eligible for Medicare in the US; I'm totally confused by the US-citizen's refusal to continue to believe in reality, and who then jump up and down for make-believe nonsense!
Not so fast handing out Medicare cards! The lord of magas following project 2025 will reduce that program to one box of one size fits all band aids!
And you seem, Louis, to be living in another realm altogether. Get a grip, man.
Nathaniel, I AM in the US and have Medicare parts A & B. Not jumping up & down. Try reading more CAREFULLY, dude. Sheesh
Nathaniel Perry, FYI - 2/3rds of all bankruptcies in the US OF A are INDEED medical. So I don’t know what or who crawled into YOUR sense of reality, but quit fooling yourself! SHEESH! MY reality was having 25 - twenty-five - highly specialized endoscopic procedures ALL due to Very Painful infections in my liver. AND further - do NOT go to alcoholism as the cause - CUZ alcoholics do NOT get liver transplants. They can’t “cut the mustard,” so to speak. AND UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) who regulate the ENTIRE transplant system in the US - they’re a nonprofit that make organ transplants HAPPEN in the US of A. Got it, bub? I LIVED every painful second, minute, many hours of MY reality, bub. Get an effing grip.
I am sorry for the medical hardships Dana. You read, so you are vastly richer than the people who've cast this net of horror over planet Earth, and the vast numbers of the sane among us. I admire you vastly, and I appreciate your supportive words, and actions. Stay well!
Thanks for the personal note! It means a lot. I’m quite isolated because most of my neighbors do NOT read and think I’m just crazy. Well, yeah, I have medical PTSD so I’m sort of like a cocked gun. It’s HARD to be me these days. I’ve been “adopted” by the Jewish folks in Denver, so we get together - however briefly - and eat lunch on Tuesdays. Building on that. Reading “Redacted” by Christopher Steele now. HIGHLY recommend. I bought it - couldn’t wait on library! Excellent!
Also, if you’re on Facebook, say hello. There are many Jim Duffey’s, but one Dana Bennett!
Dana, I am close to 80 and live in Va. I read because information to me us power and mu paid subscription, with Timothy Snyder is worth ever penny. The way he analysis what we are going through in Our moument here is Our Country helps me look at the possibilities of what might happen and how I and the new Indivisble group, that I will attend this Thursday might plan the interventions we will do to protect Our Democracy. I am not giving up, I an looking for ways to positively block/ intervene on the coming destructive regime.
Do not give up hope, there are more of us out here.
Helen, thank you soooo much for your message. I too am not giving up. Let’s stay in touch - if you’re on Facebook, we can write privately on Messenger. At this point I feel very much alone. BUT I’m not giving up! Far from it. Thanks again just for BEING THERE - and speaking out. - Dana
I'm all for keeping 'Trumpomuskovia' going. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but Trump will hate sharing the word with Musk. It will grind at him, as will every other attempt to put Musk up there with him as co-president.
And, yes, 'Muskovia' has that Soviet/Russia ring to it. It's damn near perfect.
It's my fervent hope that Trump will begin feeling that Musk and his billions are taking a bit more of the limelight than he really should. Musk ought to recall that there was one star of "The Apprentice", not two.
Prior to reading Dr. Snyder’s first article about Trumpomuskovia, I had been calling them Doon Mump (the first two letters of each name, with the order switched for each). Seeing your analysis of Trump’s annoyance, I wanted to share.
"but Trump will hate sharing the word with Musk." Terrific point!
I think it is important to understand how and when Musk became compromised. After several high-profile GOPs were removed from Twitter because they used misinformation in an attempt to overthrow the government, Musk became a vocal free speech absolutist. He enjoyed the online attention, and saw himself as America's savior from political censorship.
He enjoyed the attention so much that he publicly announced that he intended to buy Twitter for $40 billion, twice its actual value. And then he signed a purchase contract with Twitter. Immediately regretting his impulsiveness, he filed a suit in Delaware to break the contract, but the judge ruled that he was required to buy the company.
Even for somebody as preposterously wealthy as Musk, $40 billion is a lot of cash. To raise that money, he needed to sell Tesla stock and likely lose controlling interest in the company, or find other investors. Banks didn't want to jump in, because their security would be worth half of the purchase price. And not many people beyond banks want to immediately lose half their investment by purchasing stock at half its market value (and now worth less than $10 billion).
Musk as such needed to raise money, and he needed to raise it from those who did not care if they lost their investment. One of his investors is, for example, the Saudi Arabian government. Another principle investor is 8VC, a venture capital firm, who's leading personnel include the sons of Vadim Moshkovich and Petr Aven. Moskovich and Aven are inner circle, Kremlin oligarchs.
And literally on the day he purchased it, Musk's Twitter habits changed dramatically. He went from apolitical and self-apointed free-speech warrior to Russian propagandist overnight. His postings became more frequent, more political, more right-wing, and more available to the public overnight as X started amplifying Moscow's voice. And we have now learned that during the time leading up to the purchase, and then for the next two years up till now, Musk was in regular contact with Putin. This is not coincidental.
It appears from public evidence that Musk is not simply "useful idiot" but rather a willing and intentional participant in Moscow's anti-American activities. The cost of their cash was a commitment to destroy US institutions. First, it was through propaganda, and now his unwritten Russian responsibility is shifting to destruction of critical institutional bureaucracies.
And though his impulsiveness created these circumstances, I hardly doubt that Musk is disappointed with the result as he intoxicates himself on his rapidly increasing power.
Musk doesn't strike me as a useful idiot, rather as an extraordinarily smart and lucky entrepreneur who's found a man obsessed with celebrity and money and power who will help him (Musk) get even richer. Putin, I think, is sitting in the owners' box and cheering from the sidelines.
Thank you, Rick. This has clarified some things for me.
Like trump after he bankrupted 4 casinos in Atlantic City, musk need Russian oligarch money to prop him up after buying xshitter!
Thanks for penning these thoughts, Rick. It helps me better understand things that have been puzzling me.
Thank you for this sad road map. Well done - and not paranoid or fanciful.
Alas, there is a fourth scenario - existential foreign threats with the US unable to respond. For example, seeing the new domestic turmoil in the US, China attacks and takes Taiwan. Self-handicapped we are unable to defend the island. Next there is the Philippines - or Hawaii. Like Gulliver we are big, but bound down by Lilliputians/
Trump will more than happy to let China have Taiwan. It's no skin off his veneers.
Dear Dr. Snyder. I'm in total agreement with your comment "But, in the end, all of that will fail" in reference to the collapse of the rule of dictatorships. The Trump regime will also fail - Trump lacks management skills, temperament, and a vision of the future that is beyond his own selfish interests. The challenge ahead is absorbing and rebuilding from the disasters he will create on his path to failure.
I would like to agree with you, but I truly believe that T is under the "guidance" of other people like the Heritage Foundation. He is easily manipulated and will do their bidding because they have convinced him that he will go down in history as the greatest ruler and God will love him and the people will adore him and it will make him rich.
I've been inclined to agree with your view of the situation. We'll see what happens.
Absolutely timely! Sadly, the people who need to hear this, don't read.
But one person who agrees 100% is Anne Applebaum. Her book "Autocracy Inc." supports your thesis; I wrote a brief on it this morning:
https://barrygander.substack.com/p/autocracy-inc-the-dictators-who-want-9c9
Thanks for your post. Having come from a Jewish family, it really pains me to see so many Jews among the oligarchy here, but who got their start in Russia (and possibly Israel). Greed and power, I guess. I never thought I would hate my own people.
I am sure this is unrelated to the Jewish faith...you make a good point about Russia. When all is said and done, there is only one country in the Middle East where people can Vote for change - and that is Israel...
Remember that there are also many many Jews not among the oligarchy, many people who 'got their start in Russia' but are not of the TrumpEvilMuskPutin (TEMP!) cult/faction. Don't hate. Act. (paraphrasing Obama?)
Around 79% of Jewish votes went to Harris/Walz - far more than the 46% of white women who did so. Something to keep in mind. Coming from a (Jewish) white woman.
Timothy Snyder, along with your depiction of 'Trumpomuskovia' there needs to be a historical context to how the U.S. got where it is. What has happened to democracy in the country since the early 1980's? What have always been the fundamental divides in the US? What were the results on the majority of the people? In addition to the transfer of wealth, what about the impacts of the technological revolution and how it was managed and not?
Cost of living, wages, healthcare, education, housing, social interaction, economic security... what about the people? Why do most Americans mistrust the government?
Citizens United (2010) - Justice Roberts' gift to the autocrats. Lets politicians be bought by the wealthiest amongst us and to further hide dark money donations under campaign shenanigans like the all-mighty PACs.
I’ve wondered that myself. Then I think about how Reagan depicted the government as incompetent. That’s been the Republican rallying cry since the early 80s and the government has never effectively challenged that, despite the fact that that the US government can and does some things extremely well.
I used to think that people who worked in the federal workforce were mediocre folks who couldn't get jobs elsewhere. Then I read Michael Lewis's superb book "The Fifth Risk". I learned that these federal employees are the ones we often depend on to literally save our lives!
I recommend this book to anyone who still thinks it doesn't matter if entire federal departments like the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) or the Food & Drug Administration, or the Dept. of Energy are done away with - via Project 2025.
Thanks for the recommendation on the book "The Fifth Risk " by
Michael Lewis. I will added to my list. My list of books and substacks plus everyone's comments would mean I would never sleep, so I will do what I can at almost 80 years of age!
AMEN, Susan. The Rs have used mistrust of regulations and bureaucracy to cause massive discontent with government across broad swaths of the American public, even though bureaucracy is absolutely necessary for government to serve the people effectively by dampening the (often selfish) wishes of individuals against in favour of the broader needs of 'the people'. It is hard to know where to set the line. Clearly most want bank robbery suppressed. However, in other matters, e.g., excess profiteering in the 'healthcare industry' (i.e., robbing policy holders) unfolded slowly and mostly out of sight. Only governments can deal with such things. In his new book Y N Harari provides an excellent analysis of such things.
SCOTUS deciding in Citizens United that more money, more political power. (But one can argue that it has always been this way, and that we are seeing the emergence of a new monied group, and that the old money/old style politics had been in power long enough to hide the process better).
I see merit in that argument, but never before has the process run so far amok as it seems to be now. Coupled with what seems to be widespread inability to smell and be concerned about LIES the public interest is snookered.
Not until over $60 Billion in business related Medicare fraud did the fbi turn their attention to investigating the so called medical practices that scammed the Medicare funds. However once the scammers were on notice, they filed for bankruptcy and opened the same scheme under a new name! White collar crime pays! Trump is a poster child for the practice!
Nancy MacLean in “Democracy In Chains - The Deep History Of The Radical Right’S Stealth Plan For America” goes a good distance in providing an answer.
'“Dark Money,” 'Jane Mayer tells the tale of the Koch brothers. In' “Invisible Hands: The Businessmen’s Crusade Against the New Deal,” 'the historian Kim Phillips-Fein shows how a small group of businessmen initiated a decades-long effort to build popular support for free market economics. The political scientist Steven M. Teles writes about the chemicals magnate John M. Olin in' “The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement.”
'Power consolidation sometimes seems like a perpetual motion machine, continually widening the gap between those who have power and money and those who don’t. Still, “Democracy in Chains” leaves me with hope: Perhaps as books like MacLean’s continue to shine a light on important truths, Americans will begin to realize they need to pay more attention and not succumb to the cynical view that known liars make the best leaders.' (NYTimes, book review of 'Democracy in Chains' by Heather Boushey) See link below. Sorry that it could not be gifted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/books/review/democracy-in-chains-nancy-maclean.html
Today's Washington Post has a solid report on the front page: 'How billionaire Charles Koch’s network won a 40-year war to curb regulation"
"A seismic Supreme Court ruling has ushered in a new era of diminished federal power. The next Trump administration hopes to capitalize on it." See gifted link below.
https://wapo.st/4g2Stv3
Mayer’s is a great book, the content of which should be more generally appreciated
Sorry but I don't think most people distrust the government. They may not be happy with certain aspects of the local, state or federal government but is that the same as mistrust? Yes, of course, there are groups of people who are mistrustful -- for cause -- but do they represent the general population?
I don't know the sources of your thought that most Americans don't distrust the government. Solid sources may educate your belief on the matter.
'Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024'
'Public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has increased modestly since 2023. As of April 2024, 22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%). Last year, 16% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time, which was among the lowest measures in nearly seven decades of polling.' (Pew Research Center) See link below for details regarding this report.
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/24/public-trust-in-government-1958-2024/
Thank you for the information.
Your welcom, MisTBlu. The Pew Center of Research is a reliable source. Thank you for following up.
Chipping in briefly, I think it is a little more nuanced than ‘trust’. Folks do see government getting in their way through regulations. Every instance of things seeming to be more complicated than they are needed to be, leads folks to mistrust that the gov’t is looking after the best interests of ALL. Think for example of a farmer who is suddenly prevented from dumping his barn run-off into a creek from which people draw drinking water downstream. I’ve experienced the irrational response of such a fellow who protested that his “ grandfather always did it that way” (back when only a handful of people lived downstream and there was enough creek between him and them for it to clean itself up before it got to them).
Consider the 20 and 30 somethings who voted in this election have witnessed a disfunctional federal government where defaulting on federal financial obligations has been used by gop repeatedly! 45 boasted the best infrastructure bill ever and like all his other boasts was all gas and no $$$!
I find this a good framework for thinking about the regime to come and our unfolding situation. "Trumpomuskovia" is an apt shorthand.
Stalin characterized Trotsky's weakness in this way: "Trotsky is an actor who thinks he's the hero. I don't make that mistake." It will be interesting to see whether Trump and his collaborators make this mistake or don't. I suspect they will.
It will be interesting to see if these actors think they are more than riders of the wave that Tolstoy deemed all "great men". Actually, we already know they think they are. How many will be hurt and killed in the process of their demise?
hoping you are correct, Tony
Thank you Justice Roberts. Your Citizens United ruling in 2010 could not have caught you by surprise. Now you've allowed citizens and non-citizens to buy the politicians they like best. This degradation in our democracy lands squarely at your feet.
AMEN
A little Haiku for you Dr. Tim (couldn't get the 'o' in):
Snow drapes the silence,
Trumpmuskovia whispers,
December's chill reigns.
Extremely nice!
I do find this useful. I like the new name for this dangerous disaster which is fast brewing. I am already doing what I can to resist it including emailing my senators daily asking them to block Gabbard, Patel, and Hegseth. I am giving your books, On Freedom and On Tyranny, away for Christmas to family and friends. I am writing postcards for the special election this January in Virginia. I am not giving up.
One question. Some of the Trump voters and the non-voters are going to become disenchanted with the regime. I suspect that might happen fairly quickly. What happens then?
We need to be proposing alternatives that benefit the general public in the U.S., which will probably involve things that most of the Democrats are afraid to do (possibly including a national health insurance system, returning to a progressive tax system ["Tax the Rich"], major improvements in labor rights, effective steps about housing costs, etc.). Bernie Sanders and AOC would probably have some additional ideas. We also need to say, in terms of daily life rather than just at the policy level, how these alternatives could work to relieve some of the economic stresses that Trump exploited in his campaign but that Trump is likely to make worse. Have alternatives out there when the disenchantment sets in.
I've been wondering the same thing -- what happens when the Trump voters become aware and uncomfortable? Of course it depends on how that happens and whether the regime is able to distract them away from the truth a little longer to buy themselves more time.
But what if they can't and the cover is pulled back to reveal the lies? Trump voters have likely been charter members of their own social media cesspools, so if they begin to complain and poison the wells with their own disgust, the unrest that follows may begin to spread like wildfire through those cesspools to others who haven't awakened yet.
Trumpomuskovia could crack and crumble very quickly after that, with the people at the top fighting amongst themselves and looking for a way out.
I've been reading multiple books on my favorite forms of martial arts and self defense since the election (mainly because of the help with a change in mindset they provide) and one* divides the Timeline of Violence into these parts:
• Non-conflict : no evidence of aggression yet
• Conflict-aware: an adrenalized state; aware of a problem or situation, not sure if it's directed to you
• Pre-conflict: Aware it's directed to you, no action yet; maybe verbal abuse
• Conflict: Assault has begun
• Post-conflict: after assault has ended, what needs to be done
Seeing through this lens is helpful. Trump's people will begin to see the lies at different times and will go through different phases of denial, etc. Some will want to become violent. Being aware of what to look for and what to do about it on a personal level snaps me out of one (less helpful) state into a much better one.
* Krav Maga; Real world solutions to real world violence, by Gershon Ben Keren, Tuttle Publishing, 2014
Thanks for this . We have to understand that some Trump voters firmly believe they are fighting for democracy. I just finished reading, The Way Between, by Rivera Sun. It’s the first in a coming of age series . It’s a bit like Lord of the Rings, but uses non-violent means to topple oppression. I believe it draws a lot from Martial Arts. The lead character is an eleven-year-old red-headed girl. As a former redhead, hooked 😊
I would only caution that regardless of the "reasoning" behind an aggressor's thoughts, if he means harm then he must be faced and dealt with.
For those of us who've lived our lives as caring, helping, thoughtful people, this is a dramatic shift in our mindset and potential behavior.
It's important to use this time to prepare ourselves, in my opinion.
I agree with that. Too many guns in the hands of Trump defenders and some of them have very itchy trigger fingers.
There are, as you know, always multiple paths (read Sun Tzu: "The Art of War", or any good book on "The Scientific Method"). I always try to find several that fit the context of the Issue at hand. A complementary method to violence, "Mindfulness" is introduced in this book: "Search Inside Yourself": The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan , Daniel Goleman, et al. | 24. April 2012
I know it sounds somewhat Cheesy, but as a 40 year veteran to meditation, it added a lot to my "self defense routines" ...I myself practice Tai Chi Chuan.
Hi, Bruce
How fun to find a like-minded traveler! I trained in Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan/Push Hands, both of which I loved for the way they developed sensitivity to another's energy approaching. Krav Maga is a more recent addition.
For many years I have practiced meditation during hands-on treatment of my patients, which always included therapeutic music in the background (as well as in my office waiting room), and sometimes included singing bowls, too (which is a kind of vibrational or sound therapy). I supplemented my medical school training with these modalities, and of course as I treat patients with them, the same modalities affect me, too.
Martial Arts and the other forms of treatment listed have grounded me like nothing else. We each find our path. Thanks for sharing yours.
I have met many good people along my paths. Thank you, Dee!
Back at you ❤
A few observations:
1. The Oligarchs thought they could control Hitler; eventually they learned Hitler controlled them:
"According to University of Edinburgh historian Stephan Malinowski, contributor to a new BBC Two series, The Rise of the Nazis, a small group of powerful actors played a critical role in the creation of the Third Reich. . . 'Many members of the German elites thought he was going to be the useful idiot who was going to play their games. They thought he could be controlled. And I come back to this metaphor of the horseman riding the horse, except that within three or four months, they discovered that they were the horse and that Hitler was the horseman.' ”
(https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/hitler-millionaire-backers-how-german-elite-facilitated-rise-nazis-third-reich/)
2. It is difficult to imagine Vance having the intellectual and strategic acumen of Putin; in other words, Vance is a pawn on a chess board whereas Putin, the former KGB agent, is the opposing chess Champion strategically moving his chessmen to undermine his opponent;
3. Instability is the key word - nothing will be stable for the next four years except instability;
I've now read the piece that you suggested, Andrew. WOW! Man does it ever have parallels to our time and a lot of history that I did not know. Clearly, tRump has his own band of Goering, Goebbels, Eicke, Himmler, etc look alikes to foist on the people. Like the German elites, the Senate will likely allow much of it. What can stop it now?
Thanks for the thoughts and reference of above. Other than causing the often-brutal deaths of 35-85M people, what could possibly go wrong? I feel as though we are all teetering on an edge now, with the steady collapse of the 'new world order' and the common understanding of both patriotism and democracy that I grew up with.
As our friend Ruth Ben-Ghiat has so aptly pointed out, the first inmates at Auschwitz were not Jews, they were Hitler's political opponents. I'll be looking forward to sharing your good company, Dr. Snyder, and that of other folks I deeply admire such as Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Adam Schiff, and so many others at whatever camp is erected by the rulers of Trumpomuskovia. They'll need a large camp, or many smaller camps, but they're no doubt up to the task. Our trials will be swift and efficient, I'm sure. All very businesslike. Welcome to Trumpomuskovia, where arbeit macht frei.
I am not sure how it will be done, but a number of truly patriotic Americans are going to need protection from some manifestation of the public over the next couple of years ... and I fear that this will involve more than legal challenges, given the obvious ideological corruption of the "scRotus".
The real vulnerability of virtually anybody is not being convicted with the conviction upheld, but being ruined by the high cost of protracted litigation. Trump has been a specialist of abusive litigation in his real estate business and will certainly be happy to apply the model to his "enemies". It doesn't matter whether you prevail in the end or not: the cost and abrasion of lengthy litigation is enough to "punish" anybody.
Yes, DT is a master of this use of the legal system! He plays it well in his own trials to the point where all charges against him have gone poof! It is an amazing and horrifying reality.
exactamente!
Perhaps an extended visit abroad will make sense for some? In the past, the cause of democracy has benefited when some high value targets of fascist regimes expatriate.
The saddest question is: How many Americans know or even care that their country will soon be run by a bunch of right wing oligarchs for their own advantage? Which is sadder, that so many Americans don’t know or they don’t care?
Carol, the uninformed canot be expected to care about how something impacts their lives because they can not predict what might come next. This is why so much has and is being done to our educational system by the conservative powers that be and those banning books. There position is that the masses need to be uninformed and with limited education! This has been in the works over the past 4 plus years!
Our jobs include how to limit book banming and provide a way of getting information on way is taking place and hiw it impacts the daily lives of everyone.
Let's keep working on the above.
I agree and believe that once we see the "shit for brains" cabinet of fools heedlessly and maliciously inserted and suspended in the Swamp of DC, we will experience what Einstein (and Brown) saw. The minuscule forces in the political quagmire will excite them to "Brownian Motion" and they will smash into each other in a constant bumper car like dance of chaos and incompetence. Let's just hope they don't break too much before the shatter explosively into a cloud of their own fecal brain matter.
I don't know that we can rely on this, Bruce, but I do hope it comes out this way and that the collisions are entertaining at any rate.
Oh, don't you think they are entertaining already? But it is "bad theater" and at some time will make us all puke. Until then, ENJOY, John.
Thanks, Bruce. Yes, really I do ... even though it stunned me that somebody like Gaetz was put forward as a serious candidate for AG, before the comedy became obvious. Really what else can be do except try to see the humour in it and hope that there is enough for others to see it as a comedy show?
He's doing it on purpose to flush out the nay sayers in his own party. An old Mafia trick, I think.