“Both fascism and communism were responses to
globalization: to the real and perceived inequalities it created, and the
apparent helplessness of the democracies in addressing them. Fascists rejected
reason in the name of will, denying objective truth in favor of a glorious myth
articulated by leaders who claimed to give voice to the people. They put a face
on globalization, arguing that its complex challenges were the result of a
conspiracy against the nation. Communists ruled for longer, for nearly seven
decades in the Soviet Union, and more than four decades in much of Eastern
Europe. They proposed rule by a disciplined party elite with a monopoly on
reason that would guide society toward a certain future according to supposedly
fixed laws of history….
“Americans today are no wiser than the Europeans who
saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism in the 20th century. Our
one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time
to do so.”—Yale historian Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons fromthe Twentieth Century (2017)
The accompanying photo of Timothy Snyder was taken
Mar. 31, 2016, by Frauemacht.
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