“On Tyranny” - Afterword(s)
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...