on tyranny: lesson one

Timothy Snyder (2017), in Lesson One of On Tyranny advises us not to comply in advance. He cites historical examples in which compliance in advance actually taught the regime what they were able to do. He also described the Stanley Milgram experiments people were willing to give what they believed to be lethal shocks to people they didn’t know simply because they were instructed to by the experimenter.

I’d like to believe that people won’t comply with immoral / illegal orders but the experiment and our own national experience show this to be untrue. But all is not lost. Noncompliance is possible. Our history is filled with examples of civil disobedience and conscientious objection. Refusal to go to the back of the bus. But it isn’t an easy thing. The stage must be set. We have to practice, exercise the muscle of saying, “No! I won’t!” Practice being disagreeable, even politely so. But don’t go along in the little things, so that we’re ready when the big things arrive.

Oh! By the way, the big things are here.

Reference
Snyder, T. (2017). On tyranny: Twenty lessons from the twentieth century. Crown.

2025-09-06