THE ROAD TO UNFREEDOM: RUSSIA, EUROPE, AMERICA By Timothy Snyder


Timothy Snyder claims Russia is a kleptocratic regime that seeks to export the politics of eternity: to demolish factuality, to preserve inequality, and to accelerate similar tendencies in Europe and the United States (p. 11). Snyder writes about “the politics of inevitability.” This is the idea that there are no ideas, only actions. And, the people selling this claim their actions are inevitable. “Winning” and “Success” are assured. Chapter by chapter, Snyder dissects the Russian strategies to undermine the European Union and the United States.  With the 2020 Presidential Election just a few months away, you can count on the Russians to be meddling just as they did in 2016.

If you’ve been wondering why Americans are so conflicted, The Road to Unfreedom explains why.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Prologue p. 1
Chapter 1 Individualism or Totalitarianism p. 15
Chapter 2 Succession or Failure p. 37
Chapter 3 Integration or Empire p. 67
Chapter 4 Novelty or Eternity p. 111
Chapter 5 Truth or Lies p. 159
Chapter 6 Equality or Oligarchy p. 217
Epilogue p. 277
Acknowledgments p. 281
Endnotes p. 285
Index p. 347

16 thoughts on “THE ROAD TO UNFREEDOM: RUSSIA, EUROPE, AMERICA By Timothy Snyder

  1. Jeff Meyerson

    I fully expect an “info dump” at some point to reveal what Putin has on Trump, because he is clearly under his thumb.

    Reply
  2. Fred Blosser

    I have a feeling that Trump’s finances will remain hidden for a long time to come, certainly for his lifetime and prob. ours, unless the Dems show more smarts and gumption than they have so far. He’ll keep subpoenas and lawsuits tied up in the courts. Prepare for four more years of his dangerous nonsense, to the point that even writing “his dangerous nonsense” on the web will result in a knock on the door from federal agents. And can anyone seriously believe that Putin doesn’t play him like a fiddle? His comments and body language with Putin at Helsinki 2018 cinched that.

    Reply
  3. Michael Padgett

    Interesting as it would probably be, I’m not sure what effect Putin’s Trump info would have. It would certainly lessen the hold Putin has on Trump, but how would it change anything regarding Trump personally? Would it change the status quo? We already know that Trump cultists don’t give a rat’s ass what he does (or did), and nearly everyone else already hates him.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Michael, I’m concerned about the Russians messing with voting in November. And the Iranians, the North Koreans, and the dozens of terrorist groups that hate America.

      Reply
  4. Deb

    It didn’t have to be like this. I go back time and again to the Reagan Administration ending the Fairness Doctrine which had mandated that any political use of the public airwaves had to give equal time to both sides. When that mandate was lifted, whoo boy, AM radio became a festering cesspool of racist, misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic cruelty that stoked a sense of aggrieved entitlement in its largely white, rural, male listeners. 15 years later, the pump was primed for Fox News to reinforce the main message. We have a country where close to 40% of the adult population has been living with the right-wing echo chamber’s cognitive dissonance for close to 40 years. Critical thinking skills are gone; emotions such as sympathy, compassion, empathy, and kindness are disparaged; anger (rage) against “the other” is the only viable outlet for such people. So Russia looked at the electorate and immediately zero’d in on the group that would be controllable using the media conglomerate that Reagan et al had bequeathed us. As I said this morning on email, it’s like we’re all living in a demented PsychOps experiment (or a Samuel Beckett novel).

    /Dismounting soapbox now.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, your analysis is right on the mark. The Republicans and their Evangelical allies created a propaganda machine to brainwash 40% of the American population. The coronavirus pandemic is exposing their fantasies and lies.

      Reply

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