On Tyranny: Updated with Twenty New Lessons from Russia's War on Ukraine
Written and Narrated By: Timothy Snyder
Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
Timothy Snyder is a MUST Listen!!!
Dude! at the risk of alienating others, uhm, I don’t give a damn:
I haaate Donald Trump and the Fascist BS he gave open voice to, -plus- I haaaaate that On Tyranny comPLETEly does NOT use the plethora of concerning examples of authoritarianism that were birthed during the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney years. I mean, c’mon, sir: Dubya used THE traumatic incident of 9/11 to take away rights in the name of Security, programs that Obama saaaaid he’d do away with but only expanded. He invaded a country illegally and branded those who dared even minimally question THAT dePLOrable and disGUSting enterprise as anti-Patriotic. Snyder brings up how touchy even lapel pins can be, but he doesn’t point out that in America THOSE came to be Fashion MUSTS during Dubya’s dubious reign. And hey, Snyder, you know how you point out that in America we do NOT have One Person One Vote? How about the 2000 election in ADDITION to the 2016 election that were carried by just such a flawed system, subverting the will of the people?
Okay, have I lost you, or are you still with me so that I can go deeper into this Expanded Edition of On Tyranny?
Again, if I’ve pissed you off, I really do NOT care, and I think the fact that I’ve used TWO expletives in an otherwise squeeeaky cleeean website is testament to this. Seriously, I usually use terms like: Dang, and Ticked Off, and such all. Soooo, apParently the situation this was written for has stirred up loathings from the Past.
All right, the beginning, the original part of On Tyranny was written after the 2016 Russian Interference Election, and its commentary on what went on. Trump isn’t named, but his tactics are discussed, as well as Snyder calling him The Current President. As in: A gazillion (And six!) percent of what he says are flat-out lies. As in: We learn of one scandal and it becomes sooo ho-hum esPECially as it will almost immediately be replaced with yet another scandal. It’s patently obvious just whom Snyder is referring to. And each Lesson on tyranny is backed up with examples of notable tyrants in the past, i.e. Hitler and Stalin. Trump directly lifts from their playbook, and On Tyranny was an effort to educate the Public, the Thinking/Feeling/Hoping/Disgusted humans/Americans among us who wish for more, and who were vastly alarmed by the New Reality that was crammed down our throats.
The last several hours, this Expanded addition is an immediate call to awareness re: Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. It is all the core lessons from the original edition made real and understandable. Snyder has an undying affection for Ukraine, and his admiration for the courage and determination shown by Ukrainians and president Volodymyr Zelensky is beautiful to behold. He points out that England did NOT react to bombing of civilian targets as Hitler thought they would: Instead of Neville Chamberlain, they now had Winston Churchill, willing to stand up, and tho’ it would indeed be nice to say that England went it alone, it IS true that there were some smaller nations who stood by her side (So I lightly ding Snyder for that, but dude, that’s about all. Well, that AND giving Dubya and Cheney and Rumsfeld a pass… sooo still peeved about THEM). -BUT- that’s where he points out that Zelensky did NOT get outta town the moment Russia invaded, and that the Ukrainian people did NOT submit meekly. This wasn’t what Putin was expecting, and so he’s had to take more drastic measures which, while alarming, is oddly AWEsome as well (Go Ukraine, go!)
Tho’ this is a call to stand up to tyranny, it’s even more a truly thorough takedown of Putin. Whereas the individual Putin was a certain way (P’raps even just six or seven years ago), Snyder points out that two years of Covid isolation have turned the man into an even greater, and more out-of-touch psychopath than before. His cleaving unto Stalin and the fantastical myth of Russia as a country with 1000 years history as a Nation (Patently false!) is concerning. But it’s his reliance on techniques used by Stalin and Hitler (And Trump) that are discussed in great detail. Such as how Ukraine is not a country but is rather a Concept that Russia owns.
The only other Timothy Snyder I’ve reviewed has been Bloodlands, and that was narrated by Ralph Cosham. So tho’ that particular (BeYONd EXCELLENT!!!) audiobook has Snyder conveying closing thoughts, this is pretty much the first time I’ve spent so much time listening to him impart his own work (Although, yeh yeh yeh I ain’t proud of it: I fell asleep during his 2018 work, The Road to Unfreedom. I cite an overWHELming Sense of Despair for that particular work…). This was written in a day, narrated the following day, and I truly felt as tho’ I was sitting with him, listening to him as he spun thoughts and made connections. It’s not that he rambles, exactly; it’s more like he’s pulling together a vast amount of ideas and giving them form as he speaks. It’s awesome, even if it IS a tad halting in its delivery.
As Snyder IS a Historian, and as this IS a series of compelling issues as framed via historical events and tyrants, it IS tempting to posit EVERYone in such a context. Biden warns that we won’t get involved cuz it’ll mean WWIII, as tho’ somehow WE’D be starting something. And though I deeearly LOATHE the Crazed Right-Wing Nutjobs who are calling him a Chamberlain (When through the Trump years they were fawning over Putin, uhm, yeh y’all WERE), I kinda sorta am DESperately wishing the world had a Churchill right now.
-BUT-
There IS President Zelensky talking to his people, meeting with them, supporting them -and- wearing a flak jacket.
There IS bravery to be found… I just hope we as a nation can be brave ourselves and find ourselves on the right side of history… rather than sitting back and decrying rising gas prices for our SUVs. Nothing says We Love Putin THE Hydrocarbon Oligarch better than a reliance on what he has to offer…
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