This chapter demonstrates how institutions can be systematically dismantled by those in power, using the example of Nazi Germany to illustrate how reasonable people often mistakenly believe established systems will automatically protect them from radical change, even when those in power explicitly announce their destructive intentions.

Reflection Questions:Why do you think the Jews in Nazi Germany did not believe the existing institutions and legal protections would/could be changed? Do you see any parallels to events and beliefs in the U.S. today?

If you do choose to believe what the current presidential administration is saying about what it will/wants to do regarding current legal protections and political institutions, what do you think is the proper response from citizens?

This chapter shows how democracies can disintegrate from within when citizens become complacent. The text highlights how seemingly ordinary elections can become turning points that fundamentally transform political systems, using historical examples from Nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Russia to illustrate the fragility of democratic institutions.

Reflection Questions:What does it mean that “the manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten” (Wendell Phillips)? What are some specific local or community-level actions that ordinary citizens could take to help preserve democratic processes?

How do you think campaign finance practices, gerrymandering, and the resulting unequal representation have made the U.S. vulnerable to tyranny?

How can current U.S. citizens ensure that this election is not the last?

This chapter warns of the dangers of anticipatory obedience, examining how ordinary people can quickly adapt to and comply with new, potentially harmful societal norms. Snyder illustrates this point using historical examples from Nazi Austria and the Milgram experiment.Reflection Questions:Can you see examples of anticipatory obedience in our society today?Are there ways that you are already adjusting in anticipation of recent sociopolitical changes (actions, thoughts, emotions)? What would not obeying in advance look like?

Copyright © 2017 by Timothy Snyder. Published in the United States by Tim Duggan Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

Welcome to Monday, and our first Mary Oliver poem. It is a gorgeous meditation and a poem that can be found in her collection Blue Horses (2016).