Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
On Tyranny summary
Timothy Snyder
Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
16 mins
What is On Tyranny about?
On Tyranny (2017) is a guide to recognizing the warning signs of tyranny, which, unfortunately, is a political climate that many are all too familiar with. Find out what you can do to protect yourself and keep your community vigilant and resistant to dangerous political leaders.
Table of Contents
On Tyranny
summarized in 6 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 6
Resist tyranny by being politically active and aware of paramilitary forces.
If you’ve been following the news these days, you’ll no doubt know that America is bristling with hostile attitudes toward “foreign threats.” However, if you have a real concern about threats to democracy, it’s often best to keep an eye on the threats from within.
If you look at the democratic governments that have collapsed in the years since World War I, you’ll notice that each fell to a single party that seized power from within the nation.
Nazis, communists and fascists have traditionally used spectacle and repression to enable their takeovers. They’ve also tended to use salami tactics, the process of slicing away at the opposition, taking power piece by piece. Often the public is too distracted to notice the threat to their freedom.
This is why you must be vigilant and support a multiparty system. What you want to avoid is one power controlling every level of the government, which is what is now happening in the United States.
You can do your part by voting, in both local and state elections, and being politically active. It’s best to support the use of paper ballots, which can’t be tampered with as easily as electronic ones. And of course, you could even run for local office yourself.
In the meantime, another sign to beware of is paramilitary forces – that is, any military presence that isn’t state or federally sanctioned.
If someone wants to take over, she’ll likely throw together some sort of violent organization that acts as a paramilitary wing of her political party.
Donald Trump did something that most candidates avoid; he formed a private security force that followed his orders at political rallies. They were used to eject dissenting voices from the rallies, and the members even encouraged supporters to remove anyone who opposed the candidate.
At one rally, Trump gave a disturbing command: “Get the remnant out!” After “the remnant” had been removed, he asked the crowd, “Isn’t this more fun than a regular boring rally? To me, it’s fun.”
This is the kind of behavior that should make people take notice.
Want to see all full key ideas from On Tyranny?
Key ideas in On Tyranny
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Best quote from On Tyranny
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. – American abolitionist Wendell Phillips
—Timothy Snyder
Who should read On Tyranny?
- Citizens against oppressive regimes
- Freedom fighters
- Activists and demonstration organizers
Categories with On Tyranny
Books like On Tyranny
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers