ΑΠΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΤΥΡΑΝΝΙΑ – 20 ΜΑΘΗΜΑΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ 20ο ΑΙΩΝΑ – ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIENTH CENTURY

Donald Trump’s election and the obvious blows he has managed against democracy and its constitutions have troubled politicians, social thinkers, scientists, artists and citizens in US and all over the world.

Timothy Snyder, the historian that has studied the darkest times of European history, wrote an enlightening book that awakens: Through twenty chapters he digs into one hundred years of history with main stops the rise of Fascism, Nazism and Communism. He gives emphasis to how these constitutions were established and how they were imposed to citizens who watched one by one their democratic principles getting violated and at the same time how they lured common people into becoming instruments of their mean purposes.

This book reveals how imperceptibly and gradually can democracy get dissolved. The undermining of democracy is never direct. It is happening with small, sneaky steps appealing on “peoples’ will”, with the disguise of authoritarianism in actions that supposedly captivate the common sentiment but prove to be catalysts of freedom. The vigilance of everyone is necessary.