Students and educators gathered on the campus of Appalachian State University, Sept. 29, 2017, to listen to Timothy Snyder give a lecture on his new book, “On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century.”

The ballroom, in which the event was held, quickly became standing-room only. The crowd illustrated the interest for the famed historian and professor. At the beginning of the lecture, Snyder praised state universities calling them the “crown,” adding that the Ivy league is like the “glitter that we throw around.” He then thanked the Humanities department, who sponsored the event, and added that, “I can't think of anything that’s more important in the present political moment.”

Snyder, who has studied European history and the Holocaust, offered disturbing parallels between history and the present political scene. Snyder structured the lecture around his book, “On Tyranny, Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century.” Snyder said the text was written with the intention of mimicking an American political pamphlet that would be, “short enough that others might read them at times of political crisis.” The “pamphlet” offers 20 lessons for resisting tyranny, a rule that Snyder says, “the founding fathers’ understood, feared and correctly predicted.”

Snyder wrote the book on the basis of some intuitions that arose from the Trump campaign.  Snyder said President Trump, “I’m sure unknowingly, copied the fascist tactic of using part of the audience against another part of the audience.”  Snyder then detailed how we as a society are moving from, “the politics of inevitability, to the politics of eternity.” The politics of eternity would operate in a cyclical manner in which everything repeats itself. This notion, according to Snyder, gives confirmation to the idea that history has great importance when trying to understand our world today.

All in attendance listened intently on what Snyder had to say about his assessment of our current political climate. Nancy Love, an attendee of the lecture, detailed the similarities between the past and present. “We are simultaneously living and creating history,” Love said.

The self-proclaimed first to write about Russia’s influence on the 2016 elections, Snyder noted some of President Trump’s staff and his interaction with them. Snyder referenced an incident in which President Trump expressed his relief after former FBI director, James Comey, was fired. The expression of relief was made to the Russian Ambassador and the Russian Foreign Minister in the Oval Office. The crowd murmured at the connection.

Snyder cited the 1940 political slogan, “America First,” and showed how it had become President Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Snyder noted that that when dealing with the politics of eternity it, “whisks you into the past.”

Sadie Brown, an Appalachian State student attending for extra credit, said she didn't know what to expect. When asked what she learned from the lecture she said her biggest takeaway was how, “you can't make America great again.”

SOURCE LIST

• Timothy Snyder- Lecturer

• Nancy Love- Attendee

• Sadie Brown- Student and Attendee

*All were interviewed at the lecture on Sept. 29, 2017