The Precariousness of Democracy
There is no teleology to history. Democracy does not continue to get better and stronger over time. In fact, there is no guarantee that democracy will last forever. Our democracy is more precarious than we would like to admit, privy to threats from our fellow citizens, egged on by tyrants who know exactly how to manipulate them to do their bidding. Despite the refrain "it can't happen here," it almost did in 2021 and is still likely to happen in the near future.
The Need to Learn from History
Snyder provides two types of history, both of them misleading. The first is the politics of inevitability, meaning that people do not really think they need to learn from history because it is inexorable, moving forward, improving and coming to some sort of "end." The second is the politics of eternity, meaning that people look back, seeing themselves as victims or persecuted and deliberately rewriting what happened. Instead, as he says frequently, history does not repeat but it can instruct. The only way we can figure out what might happen is to look at what did happen.
The Dangers of Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is, as Hannah Arendt describes it, the collapse of the private and the public. We lose our privacy, we lose our rights. We can broker no opposition, no dissent. Tyrannical leaders are capricious and petulant, and we do not know what they might do or when they might do it. Our borders are drawn tighter but we are less safe; we have more to fear from our own fellow citizens than some outside aggressor.
Complicity
Snyder's historical lessons are very instructive, as they do not paint the fall of a democracy to totalitarianism as just the result of would-be tyrants' actions. Instead, he shows how regular people—doctors, lawyers, local politicians, policemen, people using symbols and language and carrying out "anticipatory obedience," people seduced by paramilitary membership because it offers some sort of community—as deeply complicit in aiding tyrants' rise to power.
Protecting Ourselves
The first part of Snyder's book deals with bigger-picture subjects, such as the "one-party state" and protecting the courts and being wary of paramilitaries. But the second part of the book is more about protecting ourselves, which is done through a few ways: take in and disseminate real, factual, thoroughly researched information; get to know people in person; avoid the scrim of the computer screen; protect your private data; be careful what you say online; and take care of legal issues. These lessons help us take practical steps to protect ourselves, which is helpful when we consider how little we can actually forestall some of these events.
Sacrifice, Responsibility, and Circumspection
Snyder does not mince words in this text, especially in the last lesson, "Be as courageous as you can": "If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then we will all die under tyranny" (115). This is a stark warning that we may be required to make real sacrifices if the unthinkable happens. And, to a much less dire degree, he says we must do other things even if they are laborious or uncomfortable: we need to financially support causes we believe in, we need to financially support and read and disseminate the work of real journalists, we need to reorient ourselves to the internet, we need to approach politics in a more "corporeal" way. Depending on the person, some of these may be easier than others, but taken as a whole, they show that Snyder thinks passivity is what dooms democracy.
Tactics of Totalitarians
Snyder's deep knowledge of European history is on full display in this text, as he is able to show us innumerable real-world examples of the tactics of totalitarians. They use specific symbols that cast certain people/groups as "other." They use language that excludes. They prefer spectacle and deception and conspiracy rather than truth. They welcome violent rhetoric and action to frighten or rile. They take advantage of crises (or invent them) to claim a need for terror management because of an exceptional situation. Overall, they are canny and dexterous even as they appear to be dumb and appealing to the lowest common denominator of citizen.
