Today we relay excerpts from an exceptionally good Democracy Now interview with Yale historian Timothy Snyder regarding both his important recent book On Tyranny and his related social media posts following the election of Donald Trump.
On resisting complacency:
On the long failure of profit-driven globalization, and its consequences:
On his first “lesson” for resistance:
The above resonates strong with Jeffrey Rosen’s prescient 2004 book, The Naked Crowd, discussed in our 2012 post Nothing to Hide.
On being kind to language:
See also Below the Dead Language, with Solmaz Sharif discussing the role of the poet as caretaker of the language.
On everyday connection and civility:
Our coarse and degraded social reality, of which Donald Trump is nothing but a malignant symptom, gains vital sustenance from rage, aggression, rudeness, abusive language, fear and paranoia. Thus simple acts of kindness, civil engagement and calm conversations become essential acts of deep resistance, refusing to let the prevailing ethos take hold of our own souls.
Desperado Philosophy 