"On Tyranny" - Chapter 2: "Defend institutions"
Before I begin, it’s newsworthy that a group of Democratic representatives have been blocked from entering USAID headquarters and the White House just announced that Elon Musk is “a special government employee.” Over the weekend, thousands protested the Regime en masse. I’m leading with this, because this is what defending the constitution and the institutions of governance looks like and what we are all likely going to be called on to do in the months to come.
I also want to point out that these protests haven’t been well-reported by legacy media. This is adjacent to what we’re seeing play out in real time as our institutions, including the fourth estate, are under attack or under the thumb of oligarchs.
In some ways, none of this surprises me. The country has been on track for something like this for decades, if not a full century. Nesrine Malim at the Guardian has a strong piece (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/03/donald-trump-american-exceptionalism-guantanamo-bay-imperialism-billionaires) that articulates whet I’m thinking better quite thoroughly.
Snyder makes the case plain: “It is institutions that help us preserve decency”, but also, that they need help in being preserved and sustained to do so. A pointed statement, a challenge actually, follows: “Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf.” This is the other aspect of a participatory democracy that often goes overlooked and many are not taught to understand. Voting, of course, it the life-blood of a government by, of, and for the people. However hollow that might sound right now, it isn’t just a right or a privilege. It is a citizen’s duty to do at least that much in the course of their life in a democracy.
However, as we’re learning, democracy is fragile. A democracy is only as strong as its demos, if you will, and for a variety of reasons, at this moment, democracy in the United States is at an inflection point. As other nations have done, and we will be returning again to examples from the last century as prologue to this moment, democracies can vote themselves away.
Snyder continues, institutions “fall one after the other unless each is defended from the beginning.” Of course, there are a number at risk even as I write this. The US Agency for International Development is under hostile occupation now and in danger of being dissolved by imperial fiat or at the command of a “special government employee.” Other agencies are on the chopping block on a wish list authored by Project 2025, and face real threats. Other institutions, closer to home, also require protection; libraries, food banks, local newspapers.
Snyder advises us to choose one, one that is close to our heart, and get involved in preserving that institution from being destroyed.
As he points out, many in Germany felt that their institutions were impregnable or could defend themselves “automatically” against attack. He quotes at length from a February 2, 1933 article in a German Jewish newspaper an article that avers that Hitler couldn’t simply and easily strip the German Jews of their constitutional rights. The authors believed in a number of checks to that kind of power and that “When one acts as a European power, the whole atmosphere tends toward ethical reflection upon one’s better self and away from revisiting one’s oppositional nature.”
As Snyder points out, it is mistaken to assume that a new regime cannot do away with institutions, customs, regulations at a whim, or maintain them as simulacra of what they once were; creating a facade of an empty edifice placates people and keeps them as docile/hopeful as truncheons. Indeed, in an effort toward appeasement/obeying in advance (see Chapter 1), some Jews voted in ways that the government wanted as a gesture in good faith. As we know, this didn’t end well.
I don’t have to add a lot here in terms of what we will likely be called on to do. You will read, again and again, how important it is to contact your reps, to volunteer your time, to march in protest, and to help where you can/as you can.
Two places to start with:
Mobilize at https://www.mobilize.us/. I have the landing page set to my area; populated with events, petitions, and volunteer opportunities, it’s practically one-stop shopping.
Indivisible at https://indivisible.org/ is another comprehensive hub. You can sign up for updates, download their guide to organizaing, find candidates to support, and more.
Next up: Chapter 3: Beware of a one-party state
Navigation:
Chapter 2
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Afterword(s)
Bibliography
Malik, Nesrine. Trump 2.0 is exposing American exceptionalism for what it is – and has always been. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/03/donald-trump-american-exceptionalism-guantanamo-bay-imperialism-billionaires. 3 February 2025.
Snyder, Timothy. On Tyranny - Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Crown Publishing. New York. 2017.
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