Snejdarek
Member
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Let me start by admitting that after reading Black Eart and Bloodlands, I am a fan of Snyder's. His work on the topic of mass murder in Eastern Europe in 1930s and 1940s really sheds a new light on the era.
Now, I got his latest book - On Tyranny, as a present. I read it rather quickly during a train ride and I will surely give it another look, but still, there is one topic, or lack thereof, that stands out in the book - issue of private firearms ownership as the most effective tool of resistance to any form of tyranny, one that all 20th century tyrants aimed to suppress before getting on with their further crimes.
Firearms are mentioned only briefly in part 6 "Be wary of paramilitaries": quote: "When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. (...) Armed groups first degrade a political order, and then transform it."
The other instance does not include firearms, but their lack in the given part is just striking. Part 20 "Be as courageous as you can": quote: "If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny."
This should probably be understood as a call to arms for the book reading freedom lovers, but it is still far cry from "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." I will actually go even further and say: the way Snyder puts it down is akin to Jefferson writing his sentence down with omission of "and tyrants".
Has anyone read it? Did you too have feeling that the book was re-edited to be more "suitable" for US left wing reader by leaving private firearms possession out?
Or is there something else that I am missing, being a Czech with only vague understanding of American culture, politics and bookwriting?
Let me start by admitting that after reading Black Eart and Bloodlands, I am a fan of Snyder's. His work on the topic of mass murder in Eastern Europe in 1930s and 1940s really sheds a new light on the era.
Now, I got his latest book - On Tyranny, as a present. I read it rather quickly during a train ride and I will surely give it another look, but still, there is one topic, or lack thereof, that stands out in the book - issue of private firearms ownership as the most effective tool of resistance to any form of tyranny, one that all 20th century tyrants aimed to suppress before getting on with their further crimes.
Firearms are mentioned only briefly in part 6 "Be wary of paramilitaries": quote: "When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. (...) Armed groups first degrade a political order, and then transform it."
The other instance does not include firearms, but their lack in the given part is just striking. Part 20 "Be as courageous as you can": quote: "If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny."
This should probably be understood as a call to arms for the book reading freedom lovers, but it is still far cry from "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure." I will actually go even further and say: the way Snyder puts it down is akin to Jefferson writing his sentence down with omission of "and tyrants".
Has anyone read it? Did you too have feeling that the book was re-edited to be more "suitable" for US left wing reader by leaving private firearms possession out?
Or is there something else that I am missing, being a Czech with only vague understanding of American culture, politics and bookwriting?