“Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.”
Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny
I love this tenet because it reminds us that our individual personalities and our private lives are the basis of our freedom. If we put everything about ourselves out into the world, even things that are non-political in nature, then we can be controlled by those in power. Even if we think, “who am I that anyone in power cares what I do or say?” it is best to err on the side of caution. If we lose track of the line between our public and our personal lives, we lose our ability to have our own ideas, our own conversations, and our own opinions. In his YouTube video on this tenet, Snyder reminds us that anything we write in an email or on a personal website or social media account may be exposed at some point and used against us. This kind of public spectacle and exposure is a tactic used by tyrants to silence opposition and as a substitution for facts. –Mandolin
Hear Timothy Snyder speak about this lesson on YouTube.
This lesson was letterpress printed with handset wood type and Pantone 320 ink on a Vandercook proofing press.
