“Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.”
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
In this chapter Snyder includes a long list of Trump’s actions as examples of what a patriot is not. For example, a person who mocks war heroes and their families, or who admires foreign dictators (among many other examples).
Instead of calling him a patriot, Snyder characterizes Trump as a nationalist: “A nationalist encourages us to be our worst, and then tells us that we are the best…Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others (113, 114).”
When Snyder asks us to be patriots in this tenet, he means to be someone who “wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves (114).” He goes on to conclude that “a patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well–and wishing it would do better (114).” This reminded me of Alexei Navalny, who was a Russian patriot in a way that led to his poisoning, imprisonment and ultimately his death.
I relate to Snyder’s characterization of what it means to be a patriot. It understands that a person can see that their country is not living up to its ideals and advocate for it to do better. It also reminds me of James Baldwin, who wrote, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
—Claire
Hear Timothy Snyder speak about this tenet on YouTube.
This lesson was letterpress printed with handset wood type and violet ink on a Vandercook proofing press.
