On Tyranny – Susan Feathers

Down Ballot Races Tell a Story

To readers: I recommend Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder as historians and active citizens – as people who can provide trustworthy guidance as we move into a period. While we are entering a stark reality in he U.S.A., there is still much we can do to protect democracy, and there are long term strategies to protect the nearly 250 years of progress toward equality for all and the rule of law. In fact, if we do not engage in protecting this progress, we may lose it all.

What American Voters Actually Voted For

In state governments citizens voted to restore or protect abortion rights for women’s health; better wages; higher taxes on super wealthy, equality under the law, protection of workers’ rights. Voters also voted for climate mitigation and green energy development. Americans voted to protect right to fair voting rules. This is what Americans voted for on both sides of the political ticket.

Why did more than half of them then vote for Trump? They were deceived. Disinformation created a picture that by voting for the MAGA movement you would get all those things. They are in for a big disappointment.

We don’t have to stand by while Trump and his cronies hack away at democratic institutions and use violence against the American people.

We are entering a period of potential internal destruction/reconstruction of our governing structure (with the wealthiest men in the world in charge now) with promises to withdraw from international leadership (even participating at all) with other countries working together to keep a rules-based system of world peace. We’ll be cronies with Putin and the like. We are probably entering a period of isolation from other democracies while the new governance forms partnerships and deals with other autocracies that increase their power and individual wealth.

Trump promises to withdraw from the climate accords and he and the elected party deny that climate change is real. Call your Senators and Representatives to let them know you do not support this, even if they are MAGA recruits.

So we have some slivers of light and hope. On the local and state levels we can start building coalitions as a stabilizing force to what is happening federally. Many states are already working on this. Call your representatives.

All over the country we are witnessing right wing leaders declaring loyalty to Trump: “He is always right. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do it.” This is an acute sign of impending autocratic rule. Right from the play book.

Timothy Snyder, Yale professor of history, and author of On Tyranny and most recently On Freedom, calls this ‘obeying in advance’ to the dictator.

What can we do? We get in touch with our Senators and Representatives to tell them no, we do not believe this is right. We need to do this now. Also, create communities. Work together. You are probably already in one or more that have been active on one or more of these aspects of democratic governance.

Unqualified individuals and cronies of Trump are moving into powerful position such as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense (heading up our entire miliary establishment). Shout from the mountain tops that you do not agree and will not support it!!!!!

Remember, Kamala and Tim built a large coalition of democracy-loving citizens from left, right and center.

We must now step up together to defend our country.

Check out a Politics Chat with Heather Cox Richardson

See below this instructive set of short videos from Timothy Snyder.

The Battle for Democracy

A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best. A nationalist, ‘although endlessly brooding on power, victory, defeat, revenge,’ wrote Orwell, tends to be ‘uninterested in what happens in the real world.’ Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others. As the novelist Danilo Kiš put it, nationalism ‘has no universal values, aesthetic or ethical.’ A patriot, by contrast, wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well—and wishing that it would do better.”

Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Dr. Snyder’s book, On Tyranny, is pocket-sized for a reason. It’s meant as a guide and inspiration to discern antidemocratic forms and pundits while taking action to defend our Republic and democracies everywhere.

Biden’s State of the Union Address

It infuriates me to listen to news commentators pick apart President Biden’s State of the Union Address as partisan. It was not. Biden’s first call for action addressed the assualt on our freedom and democracy. He shined a light on the Republican Party which seeks to destroy democracy – to weaken the Republic – to install a strong man, nationalist govenment. Biden is sounding an alarm, not promoting himself. Everyone of us should be echoing that charge!

We are a society of many religions, genders, and we all have immigrant origins. This vision emanates from the Founder’s vision for a new kind of government. For nearly 250 years the U.S.A. has been striving to achieve that vision.

We are not a nation of one religion, one dictator who makes decisions for us. To claims that nationalism is easier, I wonder how Republicans might react to their personal freedoms being taken away because one man decides to take it. Women on both sides of the political spectrum felt that when a law of the land for reproductive freedom was dramatically ended, after half a century of their god given right to make decisions about their own body. And the assault continues as the right to contraceptives is being threatened.

There are signs everywhere that nationalistic forces are pressing down on Liberty. We must stay vigilant and everyone who cares about American liberty must show up at the polls to vote, and bring along several people with them.

New Audio Edition of On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder-A Must Listen

Today a new audio version of Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, originally published in 2017, is available on Audible . In this version of the book, Dr. Snyder speaks directly to the threat of Trump, his actions that spread misinformation and manipulate groups which are features of authoritarian leaders.

**At the end of reading the new version, Snyder continues to explain Ukrainian and Russian history to give readers in the U.S. a broader framework to understand why the Ukrainian fight for freedom is so important. He illustrates how the lessons in On Tyranny play out in the actions of Ukrainians. He goes further to gives vital lessons on Ukrainian and Russian history – his academic focus at Yale. Dr. Snyder is a distinguished historian at Yale University. Many of his public lectures on the roots of authoritarianism are on YouTube. This one is at Prose and Politics bookstore on the release of On Tyranny. Just search on YouTube and dozens of lectures will be available to you.

Get On Tyranny. It is a small (5″ by 5″), short exposition on 20 Lessons on Tyranny from the 20th century for all Americans to consider what we can do to strengthen democracy here in the U.S.A.

Together with a pocket constitution we will gain greater discernment of the complex political and social forces that swirl about us and act.