Matt

“Do not obey in advance.

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

“Once truth had become oracular rather than factual, evidence was irrelevant.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

“Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of political parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. DO NOT FALL FOR IT.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

“What is truth?" Sometimes people ask this question because they wish to do nothing. Generic cynicism makes us feel hip and alternative even as we slip along with our fellow citizens into a morass of indifference. It is your ability to discern facts that makes you an individual, and our collective trust in common knowledge that makes us a society.”
― Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century