Obey Watch

Timothy Snyder, the author of On Tyranny is a veritable cult hero among the pro-democracy, book-reading crowd. Jason Stanley has built a brand explaining fascism and identifying its warning signs. Both have left Yale and moved to Canada. I’ve written about it some, but it’s been on my mind constantly, and left me wondering where their exodus leaves those who have read, shared, and promoted their work. George Packer in The Atlantic (Gift Article) feels a lot like I do. Be a Patriot. “When I heard the news of the Yale exodus, I wondered if my failure to explore an exit makes me stupid and complacent. I don’t want to think I’m one of the sanguine fools who can’t see the laser pointed at his own head—who doesn’t want to lose his savings and waits to flee until it’s too late. Perhaps I was supposed to applaud the professors’ wisdom and courage in realizing that the time had come to leave. But instead, I felt betrayed … Snyder’s best-selling pamphlet, On Tyranny, is an instruction manual on how to resist authoritarianism. Lesson 1 warns: ‘Do not obey in advance.’ It’s hard not to conclude that the Yale professors are doing just that.”

+ None of this is to suggest there are not risks associated sticking around. In his latest salvo, Trump ordered an investigation of two first-term administration aides who criticized him. Their offenses include telling the truth about about the 2020 election.