Things To Keep In Mind As The New Year Approaches - 5 of 20

 

5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. 

When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. 

Think of the Reichstag fire. 

The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. 

Don't fall for it. 
 

Yale historian and Holocaust expert Timothy Snyder wrote: "Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so." 
Snyder's a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (which includes former Secretaries of State), and consults on political situations around the globe. He says: 

Above, #5 of twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today.