On Tyranny - Lesson 18: Be Calm When the Unthinkable Arrives

Lesson 18 of 20 from the 20th Century On Tyranny: Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Don't let the government freak you out enough to willingly usher in the fall of democracy. In this lesson, Snyder focuses on how Hitler and Putin both managed to retain power and destroy public institutions.

Hitler used public panic and fear to solidify his rise to power. He was appointed (not elected) German Chancellor in January of 1933. One month later, an arson occurred at the Reichstag Building (seemingly the German equivalent to the Capital Building). No one ever learned who started the fire, but Hitler was able to capitalize on the event anyway. Public response to the Reichstag fire was panic, and Hitler exploited that panic for his own political gain. He used the moment to declare that the fire had been started by his enemies and anyone standing in his way would be cut down. The next day, he issued a decree which would allow Germans to be detained for preventative purposes. They didn't have to commit a crime to be arrested, the authorities just had to have suspicion that they wanted to commit a crime. The Nazi party won a major victory in the parliamentary elections in March, presumably because Germans were largely afraid to vote for anyone else, since Hitler had so blatantly threatened his enemies. Authorities quickly began rounding up German leftists and placing them in concentration camps. They also passed a law that offered Hitler almost completely unmitigated power due to a state of emergency which lasted 12 years until the end of WWII.

In similar fashion, Putin has routinely used real or fabricated events to spark terror among the masses and justify his attacks on Russian and foreign institutions. Just a couple of months after he was elected Prime Minister in 1999, Russian secret police detonated bombs within multiple apartment buildings. Putin blamed Russian Muslims and launched a hateful campaign against the Muslim population in the region, threatening to "rub them out in the shithouse." Russians jumped to support Putin against the Muslim population despite the evidence which suggested the bombings were orchestrated by the Kremlin. Several examples followed which maintained the same pattern: Putin would craft or otherwise exploit moments of terror to tear down public institutions like private television and regional governors. He would even go so far as to orchestrate acts of terror in other countries such as France, Germany, and Ukraine with the intention of pushing the people of those countries toward their right-wing parties.

We can't let people in power get away with using our fears against us. Fear may be one of the most easily weaponized emotions, and Trump is no stranger to stoking it for his personal and political gain. His rhetoric is filled with vile fear-mongering, pitting people against one another much like Putin after the apartment bombings and Hitler after the Reichstag fire. Snyder suggests we should remain calm in these moments, but when it comes to fear, we don't always have control over our response. Fight or flight kicks in, and we're willing to do whatever it takes to survive. So how do we control those impulses to ensure we're not being duped into willingly surrendering our democracy?

For one, we have to pay attention. If we let politics fade into the background of our lives, which the vast majority of Americans gladly do, then we're much less likely to recognize political manipulation when it happens. We also have to be aware of the institutions that are likely to be targeted and keep a watchful eye on them. When a horrific event prompts our national leaders to suggest we undermine or eliminate core freedoms and institutions that benefit our collective society, we have to stand up against that response. Take note of the facts, and let that drive our decisions. If a catastrophic event happens and the immediate political response is to take away core tenants of American freedoms, take pause before joining in. Make sure fear isn't at the control panel in your mind; if it is, it's quite likely you're being intentionally manipulated by those seeking to expand their political power.