On Tyranny

After the American election lots of people started mentioning 'On Tyranny' by Timothy Snyder, written in 2017 during the first Trump administration, many of them quoting the first lesson: "Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do." 

I have been listening to Lord of the Rings on Youtube (for the third time) and at one point Frodo laments that the task has fallen to him, how hard it is to be living in such dark times. Monkey is currently on Okinawa and went today to the memorial to the 200,000 people who died in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. I found myself very moved by the photos she sent. I guess many people never realise at the time that they are part of a dark time in history, nor the role they may have played. 

Timothy Snyder ends his lessons with this one and it left me feeling overwhelmed but also heartened to think that throughout history people have been prepared to die for their freedom, and wondering about my own courage:

"Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny."

New Year Resolutions

He looks such a nice ordinary bloke but I am still left to wonder what motivates Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's desire to own Royal Mail, an apparently loss making company. His reputation precedes him. This quote from the bottom of the wiki page, "We want to make money in industries that are dying because we think they'll die much more slowly than the general consensus says." makes my blood run somewhat chilly, as does his undertaking not to take funds from the pension surplus ... for five years. It seems that what he has done with his life is just own stuff, companies mainly. And since Royal Mail seems so keen to be owned by him I can only assume the current board do not give many fucks about the company. Therefore my new year resolution is to withdraw my fuck-giving, and devote the next four years and two months to the bits of my life that are more important. Once my mortgage is paid and the rest of my pensions fall due I will quit and find something low key and part time to prop up my income.

My 2019 resolution not to beat myself up about things remains very much in place and ties in quite nicely with the new addition.

And Japanese ... I will continue to learn, for my brain health, and for ordering green tea when I go to Japan.

Stay safe. Be kind. Take care on the icy streets.