On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, was written by Dr. Timothy Snyder in 2017. He offers lessons from history to help the United States avoid devolving into a fascist state. Click here for a summary of those lessons. UUFE will have a Common Read service on October 19, 2025 focusing on Snyder’s book.

• Lesson One: Do not obey in advance. (Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given.)
• Lesson Two: Defend institutions. (It is institutions that help us to preserve decency.)
• Lesson Three: Beware of the one-party state. (The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start.)
• Lesson Four: Take responsibility for the face of the world. (The symbols of today enable the reality of tomorrow. )
• Lesson Five: Remember professional ethics. (Authoritarians need obedient civil servants, and concentration camp directors seek businessmen interested in cheap labor.)
• Lesson Six: Be wary of paramilitaries. (When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.)
• Lesson Seven: Be reflective if you must by armed. (Know the evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves one day doing irregular things. Be ready to say no.)
• Lesson Eight: Stand out. (The moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken and others will follow.)
• Lesson Nine: Be kind to our language. (Avoid the phrases everyone else uses.)
• Lesson Ten: Believe in truth. (To abandon facts is to abandon freedom.)
• Lesson Eleven: Investigate: (Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.)
• Lesson Twelve: Make eye contact and small talk. (It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society.)
• Lesson Thirteen: Practice corporeal politics. (Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen.)
• Lesson Fourteen: Establish a private life. (Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around.)
• Lesson Fifteen: Contribute to good causes. (Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life.)
• Lesson Sixteen: Learn from peers in other countries. (Keep up friendships abroad, make new friends in other countries and make sure you have a passport.)
• Lesson Seventeen: Listen for Dangerous Words. (Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.)
• Lesson Eighteen: Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. (When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to
• consolidate power.)
• Lesson Nineteen: Be a patriot. (Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come.)
• Lesson Twenty: Be as courageous as you can. (If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.)