Do Not Obey in Advance
A close reading of Timothy Snyder's 'On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,' and how it can act as a tool for democratic resistance in unprecedented times.
Over the last few weeks, the book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder has been recommended to me many times. Obviously, the topic is extremely germane to the political chaos and creep toward fascism we are facing here in the United States. In hopes it might ease my growing anxiety, and provide insights and tools to help me move forward with intention, I started reading the book. The more I read, however, I also thought the lessons that Snyder lays out might prove useful to some of you—whether they inspire action, help to focus your thoughts, or place current events in the proper world-historical context.
Before January’s Presidential inauguration, when 45–471 reclaimed power, I was familiar with On Tyranny—I had heard of it, seen it on bookstore shelves. But I had never delved much deeper. In the weeks and months ahead, I’ll be returning to Snyder’s book and its lessons. Not only because I find it critical and relevant to our current political crisis, but because it supports the work of this newsletter too. Homesick is more than an editorial project intended to help us understand the places we come from and how we are shaped by history, memory, and circumstances. It is also a vehicle to help us better understand our place in the world.
1. Do Not Obey in Advance
Snyder’s first lesson is most applicable to the first 100 days of this new administration and our current political moment: Do Not Obey in Advance. This lesson is framed as follows:
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive
government will want, and then offer themselves without being
asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.
Putting citizen response aside for just a moment, we have already seen the reins of power freely given to 45–47 by a subservient Republican majority in congress that has little interest in challenging him. Self-preservation is at the forefront of all Republican lawmakers’ thoughts, a point that Ed Kilgore outlined in a recent piece for Intelligencer:
So far, there has been a remarkable lack of congressional-Republican pushback to the ongoing Trump-DOGE-OMB seizure of powers reserved for the legislative branch. But this submissiveness has a dual purpose for the president’s faithful servants on Capitol Hill: Yes, it helps them avoid a possible primary challenge backed by Trump and financed by Elon Musk. But it also absolves them of responsibility for executive-branch actions that are unpopular or might be reversed by the courts or by the administration itself.
In other words, it is “smart” but cowardly politics by Republicans, and the type of action that will do nothing to help constituents. But it will also, Republicans hope, do nothing to hurt their chances for re-election. Such sweethearts, right? And it sends a clear message to the MAGA faithful, even if they don’t want to hear it just yet: Republicans aren’t going to save you now, and Republicans aren’t going to save you later. Of course, such dereliction of duty was already confirmed by the GOP recommendation, earlier this month, to avoid convening town halls. Gross and shameful politics for a gross and shameful moment in American history.
As we enter the third month of this administration, the response by Democrats—which has, until very recently, been deeply frustrating and painfully anemic—is finally showing small hints of life. Namely, in the form of recent town halls convened by Summer Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders.
As for the individuals who Snyder says “will think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked,” America’s billionaire class wasted no time in currying favor with 45–47 when it donated millions to his inauguration festivities. According to Americans for Tax Fairness, donations looked like this:
Amazon–founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos–has pledged $2 million to the inaugural, while Meta (Facebook)–brainchild of billionaire Mark Zuckerberg–will give $1 million. General Motors, Google, and Microsoft have each also offered $1 million. Apple CEO and billionaire Tim Cook will personally donate $1 million, as will billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin.
The cryptocurrency industry–hoping to avoid more rigorous regulation–made its first big foray into politics in last year’s campaigns. This year, the CEO of a crypto firm tops the list of inauguration donors with a $5 million contribution of its own form of digital cash.
In our next close reading of Snyder’s On Tyranny, we’ll look at lesson two: Defend Institutions. In the meantime, I’m putting together a reading list of books in the same vein as Snyder’s. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments.
Recommended Reading
“Timothy Snyder reasons with unparalleled clarity, throwing the past and future into sharp relief. He has written the rare kind of book that can be read in one sitting but will keep you coming back to help regain your bearings.” —Masha Gessen
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
On Tyranny is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.
Disclosure
Homesick is an affiliate of Bookshop.org, whose mission supports independent bookshops around the world, and we may earn a commission when you buy the books linked in our newsletter. To learn more about our curated reading lists, please visit our shop.
Endnotes
For the sake of our collective sanity, “45–47” is how Trump will be referenced when mentioned in the pages of Homesick.