Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny

Timothy Snyder the author of “On Tyranny” is a professor of History at Yale University, and uses his knowledge to shine a spot light on the importance of learning from our mistakes made throughout history. Throughout the book the author gives his readers advice on habits we need to develop, how to pick up on subtle changes, and how to recognize signs, and symptoms of a rising tyranny government. He begins the book with the statement “History does not repeat, but it does instruct” (). This quote compares directly with one of the focal points of the book. Snyder makes a solid contention that “nothing is inevitable and that understanding the past gives us the chance to be responsible” (). Written in 2017, during the Presidential election, he creates

Lesson ten is a great example of this. This lesson accentuates the significance of truth, adeciduate reality and firm warning against believing in only what we want to and not what is the case. “You submit to tyranny when you renounce the difference between what you want to hear and what is actually the case” (46). Snyder used Klemperer’s theory of truth dying in four modes to analysis and align with example of the president actions during the 2017 election. The modes break down techniques that are often used to disguise the truth. The first sign of this is called hostility to verifiability reality, which brings to light the president’s inability to tell the truth. According to the book one attempt during the 2016 campaign to track his utterances found that 78 percent of his factual claims were false (46). The second mode is shamanistic incantation, also known as endless repetition “utilized to make the fictional plausible; think of the constant, meaningless complaints about “fake news,” and the mesmerizing “Build the wall!” and “Lock her up!” chants at mass rallies (web). Theses slogans subconsciously become part of the political