On Tyranny:
Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Join the Village Zendo on March 2nd at 5 pm
for a discussion of Timothy Snyder’s provocative book.
Timothy Snyder offers us the valuable opportunity to see how Zen teaching guides over this rough terrain, helping us to use our beginner’s mind to determine our response to the present political crisis.
On Tyranny is a compilation of twenty lessons learned from Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia in the twentieth century, offering individual responses to our current threats to democracy. The 126 page book is presented as a series of instructions on how to combat the rise of tyranny, such as “Defend institutions”, “Remember professional ethics”, and “Believe in truth”. It can be read in one sitting and is ripe for a thoughtful discussion.
At this moment, the Musk-Trump administration provides us with examples of political machinations from the past as they play on our culture’s fears and ignorance. The shared history gives us insights as to where their bold illegal actions could lead us in the future.
This meeting will focus on the twenty lessons, further understanding how they fit with our practice.
First published in 2017, the updated audio version on Audible—read by the author—is called On Tyranny, expanded audiobook edition, Updated with 20 new lessons from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Once a New York Times Best Seller, it is widely available in public libraries for reading and listening. It is forsale in private book stores including McNally Jackson Books in Soho (http://mcnallyjackson.com/)
You can get the free GETCHO APP teaching you how to get your book delivered the same day from almost any book store in NYC.
The audible version is available on Audible read by the author.
You can find Timothy Snyder at Substack where he posts almost daily at https://substack.com/@snyder
Please join us for a lively discussion. All are welcome, having read the book or not.