On Tyranny

ISSUE #55

Between last week's explosive episode of Thrones, the democratic hijackers passing these abortion bans, and the amount I've been reading about the Trujillo regime recently, I've had a lot of tyrants on the brain this week. Two years ago, I first read Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Alongside the donations to Yellowhammer Fund, I thought it'd be useful to share those lessons from Snyder's book, because information begets the confidence we need to utilize the power we have:

1. Do not obey in advance.
2. Defend institutions.
3. Beware the one-party state.
4. Take responsibility for the face of the world.
5. Remember professional ethics.
6. Be wary of paramilitaries.
7. Be reflective if you must be armed.
8. Stand out.
9. Be kind to our language.
10. Believe in truth.
11. Investigate.
12. Make eye contact and small talk.
13. Practice corporeal politics.
14. Establish a private life.
15. Contribute to good causes.
16. Learn from peers in other countries.
17. Listen for dangerous words.
18. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
19. Be a patriot.
20. Be as courageous as you can.

If I could add a lesson here: history proves that one of the tyrant's many fears is music. It may feel like a measly tool for resistance at times, but, to use Edward Rothstein's words from 1981: "As far as I know, there has never been a tyranny that did not take music very seriously, that did not insist that music expresses meanings and that those meanings have effects on society." This week, I've dedicated this playlist to those effects, with songs from around the world, in the hope that these meanings translate to action and change. Read often, give what you can, and remember to remember our history.