Dimensionally Barrett

Rereading “On Tyranny” served to reinforce how important context is in our current moment. We are faced with a fascist-oligarchy hybrid government/assault on the citizens of this country and by extension, the world. Today, a Russian medical researcher at Harvard was detained by ICE for not declaring biological samples she had been requested to bring; instead of treating this as the minor offense it is, she is now detained in Louisiana after having landed in Boston. Additionally, USAID terminated almost all the remaining employees. There will likely by more disappearances and it feels likely that the rule of law will be suspended and martial law imposed as protests grow in number and numbers.  All of this helps underscore why “On Tyranny” and other tomes like Paine’s “Common Sense” and Havel’s “The Power and the Powerless” are important to read and share. Any political action should be supported with an understanding of historical context and precedent.  There are a couple of r...

  “If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, all of us will die under tyranny.” Snyder frames this last chapter as an epilogue, “history and Liberty.” He leads off with Hamlet as an example of “a virtuous man who is rightly shocked by the abrupt rise of an evil ruler.” It’s worth letting that sink in for a while. Throughout this short text, the author has presented the case for the past as prologue but also the understanding that nothing is inevitable. This book is a guide to navigating worst-case scenarios and I feel it is all the more valuable for that.  I genuinely do feel the darkest is yet to come. I believe Social security will cease to function in a matter of months, if not weeks. The economy is tanking but it’s in a slow-motion freewill. Nothing is going to happen linearly. There’s too much chaos at work for that to be the case. However, it is also the case that there is a tremendous amount of dysfunction behind the scenes. The recent Signal leak is a glaring examp...

“Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.” Snyder begins the chapter with what patriotism is not. It is an extensive list and much of it feels specific to a figure with whom all are familiar. For example, It is not patriotic to: Dodge the draft and mock war heroes Ask working families to finance one’s own presidential campaign, and then spend their contributions on one’s own companies To admire foreign dictators To say that Bashar al-Assaad and Vlaadimir. Putin are superior leaders To call up on foreign leaders to intervene in American presidential elections To share an adviser with Russian oligarchs To appoint a National Security Advisor who likes to be called “General Misha” and then pardon him for his crimes To refer to American soldiers as “losers” and “suckers” To take heather care form families  To golf your way through a national epidemic in which half a million Americans die To try to end democracy There is more, but this give...

As I’ve been writing this commentary on Snyder’s work, it’s become obvious how much he has written is happening in real time. The actuality of the crumbling of the United States as a democracy is playing out in conformity to standard authoritarian playbook rules.  In short order, we’ve witnessed the suppression of free speech on university campuses and threats to remove federal funding; a law firm targeted by the occupier in the White House that had led the prosecution against him for his crimes; and most recently, not one but two flights carrying alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to be deported without due process to a prison in El Salvador by invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Judge James E. Boasberg of the DC district court agreed with the ACLU that the act only applies to “enemy nations” and ordered the planes to return to the U.S.  The administration has admitted that it was ignoring both due process and the court’s order. The regime might posture that the “Democrats...

By now, many of us are aware of the various “dog whistles” in use along the political spectrum. However, there are a few that bear special attention. Snyder points to “exception” and “extremism” as two major terms to keep an eye out for. An authoritarian will not flinch at declaring a state of emergency and use that as an exceptional circumstances to suspend the rule of law.  As for extremists and extremism, this refers to any and all whose views are in opposition to the regime’s. Anyone holding those views is a de facto extremist.  “ Extremism   certainly sounds bad, and governments often try to make it sound worse by using the word   terrroriism   in the same sentence.” However, as Snyder points out, “there is no doctrine called  extremism .” Again, tyrants only use the term to isolate and target those whom they deem outside   their   mainstream. Dissidents in the twentie...