What would you have done if you had lived in Germany in the 1930s? If you had had the chance, would you have left the country? And if you hadn’t left, would you have regretted that for the rest of your life?
The answers to these questions are pretty easy from where we sit today. We know what happened in Germany. Leaving would have been the obvious choice.
So, is what’s happening in the United States today similar to what happened in Germany in 1933? Three professors from Yale—Marci Shore, Jason Stanley, and Tim Snyder—think that it is. In fact, they’re so sure of it that they have all decided to move out of the United States. In a video op-ed in the New York Times, the three professors detailed the reasons they are leaving, and sounded a clear warning to others that, although we are in the early days of Trump’s authoritarian takeover of the government, things are only going to get worse.
Although I’m not overly familiar with Professors Shore and Stanley, I have read a good deal of Professor Snyder’s writing, and I’ve followed him on social media for several years. I find his writing intelligent and his rhetoric quite compelling. So, his decision to leave the country has somewhat thrown me for a loop. And if I’m being honest, I have mixed emotions about his decision.
Timothy Snyder is no run-of-the-mill historian. He is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on fascism, and his writing on the topic has been widely read. His book, “On Tyranny” is one of the most popular books on authoritarianism, and the Twenty Lessons from the book have enjoyed a life of their own in recent years. If he thinks it’s time to leave the United States, then we’d all better take a hard look at the situation the country finds itself it.
Snyder’s first lesson (of the Twenty Lessons) is to not obey in advance. In other words, don’t give in to the authoritarian wishes of the leader/government before it is necessary. It’s a lesson I completely subscribe to, but I can’t help but wonder if Snyder isn’t doing exactly what he instructed us not to do.
I can’t claim to know Professor Snyder’s situation in great detail, but what I do know is that he is a white intellectual with a large platform to communicate his thoughts with the world. He has tenure at one of the country’s preeminent universities, and he appears to have the financial wherewithal to hire the best legal representation should he need it. In other words, Snyder has as much privilege as anyone in the country, so it seems to me he should be one of the last to leave, not one of the first.
That’s not to say that I think Snyder is running away unnecessarily. He knows his situation better than I do. But if we are going to save our democracy, we need people like Timothy Snyder in the resistance. We need his expertise. We need his knowledge. And we need people in his position to push back against Donald Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.
Another person I have turned to over the years for their intelligence and insight is Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings Institution. And as it turns out, Wittes is critical of Snyder’s move to Canada. In writing about the video by the “Yale Three,” here’s what he had to say on the Brookings Institution website, Lawfare:
“These are the people who should be out there doing stuff, taking risks so that others who actually have real vulnerabilities don’t have to. They should be leading from the positions of incredible safety they occupy. If they don’t want to do that, fine, no judgment. As I say, we should all live where we want. But making videos congratulating yourself for abandoning the United States is just thumbing your nose at the people you leave behind in situations of much greater risk than you ever had.”
I tend to agree with Wittes. The best I can say about the professors’ move out of the country, and the video they created to announce their moves, is that it may serve as a wake-up call to the nation. As Wittes says, perhaps the video can create a moment that energizes the resistance to Trump. If I’m going to spin the video, that’s the best I can come up with.
What I fear is that the “Yale Three” are obeying in advance. If I want to put a slightly less positive spin on the video, I fear that the professors are giving Trump exactly what he wants. Rather than staying to fight, American intellectuals—experts in fascism—are leaving the country of their own accord. It’s not only three fewer people to push back on Trump, but three of the best positioned people in the country to hold the line against Trump’s authoritarian behavior and rhetoric.
I have to admit, I can’t help but feel like the “Yale Three” are running away, abandoning the fight and giving up on America’s democracy. It seems like a cowardly thing to do. That is, unless the United States in 2025 is in a similar position as Germany in 1933. In that case, the professors are making the smart move.
