Dem
47
GOP
53
"Tyranny" is a very loaded word. This is something that, for example, the Founding Parents knew well. As academics, we don't like to use it. And as Americans, we don't like that it's accurate. But here we are.
A look at the bestseller lists makes clear that we are far from the only ones to recognize this. We've actually been tracking this story for a while, and now we're going with it. The executive summary: Since Donald Trump became president, books on tyranny and fascism have been flying off the shelf.
Among adults, the favorite option is On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder. The tagline is:
The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.
Snyder is a very fine scholar who used to teach at Yale, and who is now on the faculty at the University of Toronto. He wrote 17 books before this one, and they reached exactly the type and size of audience that scholarly books tend to reach. On Tyranny, written back in 2017, took off right around the time it looked like Trump might actually become president again. Presumably, it seemed particularly relevant to people looking for some insight. It was not long before the book made it to the New York Times' bestsellers list, which is often self-perpetuating. This week, it is #3 on the Times' Paperback Nonfiction list. It's been on the list for... 158 straight weeks.
Meanwhile, you might think children's book sales would not be affected by Trump's re-ascension. And if you did think that, you would be wrong. There is one children's book in particular that has seen a dramatic uptick in sales, often from people who are also buying copies of books like On Tyranny. That children's book is When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times, by Maya Christina Gonzalez. It is hard to believe that Trump has not already tried to sic ICE on her.
Why did we make this freudenfreude? Well, as we note at the outset, the "tyranny" label is a slam dunk at this point. In just today's post alone, we have items about government-sponsored killings in the streets; persecution of political opponents; a legislative chamber that has surrendered to the executive; an executive staff made up of fawning, sycophantic "yes men"; a xenophobic (temporary) immigration policy; the corruption/takeover of previously independent media outlets; and an executive who is trying to line his pockets with money from the national coffers. And again, that is JUST TODAY. If that's not tyranny, we're not sure what is. The book sales indicate that people have noticed, and are trying to figure out exactly what to do. This is a very hopeful sign; it's much easier to keep a passive population under the thumb than it is to do so with a population that is resisting (see Minnesota, Minneapolis).
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)
P.S.: There was ALSO supposed to be an item today on corrupting elections. We just ran out of time.