On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Award-winning author, historian, and public intellectual Timothy Snyder cleverly bridges the gap between the tragedies of the recent past of the Western tyrannical politics and the present in his latest work ‘On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Although his lessons, which are drawn from two of Europe’s most notorious perpetrators of genocide, are particularly aimed at the Americans, his twenty lessons can be appropriated to anyone who faces threats of tyranny, even (or especially) to us Filipinos. He concisely discusses and applies the ideas of the world’s brilliant socio-political philosophers like Hannah Arendt, Leszek Kolakowski, and Carl Schmitt to prove his points against Nazism and Stalinism.

What I appreciate the most about this book is you need not be a political scientist or an intellectual to understand Snyder’s ideas, and his lessons are practical and basic. Yes, he tells us to be vigilant and critical of the government itself – from its decisions to its actions and even to its language. He talks about paramilitaries, political parties, and institutions.  But he also shows us how even though we don’t directly engage in the government we nevertheless play a role in fighting against tyranny. At first, we might think that being active in organizations (political or not) has nothing to do with fighting against it and that participating in actual rallies doesn’t mean anything anymore in the digital age. But he demonstrates to us how these things are significant.

On a personal note, after reading ‘On Tyranny’, protests like the one that happened on the 21st of September this year and the recently concluded transportation strike finally made sense to me. I thought going to rallies isn’t as effective as it used to be but it still is. The government isn’t easily swayed by these rallies but the mere fact that they can get the attention of the people and that they can paralyze the nation means that they remain effective despite everything now being digital and less three-dimensional.

Speaking of the digital age, also known as the age where we don’t need to work hard to know something because information now is a keyboard away, Snyder reminds us to be cautious of the information we process. Spreading fake news has never been this easy and this fast, even unintentional. This is a global plague that we need to cure at the soonest possible time because the moment we deny facts is also the moment we give up our freedom to criticize power. We empower the tyrants, even more, when we choose to swallow singled-out information. Snyder tells us to not be passive. We must also do our part in investigating which is true and which is malicious – spoiler alert: do these the old school way; another spoiler alert: it takes so much time and effort.

This book changed the way I digest current events. I used to scroll through my Facebook to be updated on the happenings because it’s the most convenient way to be in the loop. I thought that reading articles from ‘reliable’ sources – by ‘reliable’ I mean those that are on the frontline of journalism – is enough because of the assumption that since they are the leading news sites, they’d see to it that they’d get their information correct and as unbiased as possible. But guess what? I’ve never been so wrong. I’m still not a subscriber of any broadsheet or any print media but switching to news programs on AM radio and to actual Senate hearings make a huge difference. When I did, I was surprised by how these articles online give a different connotation about the actual information – either the title is misleading or the information written is handpicked, or worse, both – which eventually creates an injurious implication such as misguided backlash from the netizens. I challenge you to give this a shot. This will make a lot of difference.

With this, apart from shifting to the traditional news source, he encourages us to separate ourselves from the internet and to read books, especially those that, in Snyder’s words, ‘enlivens our ability to think about ambiguous situations and judge the intentions of others because they warn us of what can happen. If you opt for the classics you have Fyodor Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’. If you prefer contemporary works then go for J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. You also have philosophical texts such as Hannah Arendt’s ‘The Origins of the Totalitarianism’.

You’d have a lot of ‘Ohhh. I see.’ moments when you read this book because of the realization that these simple and non-political practices that you observe every day can be your greatest armor against tyranny. I can’t stress this enough. This simple lightweight 128-paged pocket-sized book is surprisingly intellectually heavy. No highfalutin words are used. Historical accounts are brief but comprehensive; undoubtedly full of lessons.  This is a handbook, a manual, whatever you wish to call it, that every citizen in any part of the globe must-have.