1917 Centennial Series: Origins of Unfreedom. Timothy Snyder

1917 Centennial Series: Origins of Unfreedom
Russia, Europe, America
Monday, November 6, 2017
4:30pm-6:00pm
Filene Auditorium, Moore Building
Mary and Peter R. Dallman 1951 Great Issues Lecture
Origins of Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America
Timothy Snyder, Professor of History, Yale University
The Bolshevik Revolution was an end point of the first globalization. The contest between far left and far right that followed foreshadowed some of our own problems as the second globalization fades. In other respects, modern authoritarianism in Russia, Europe, and America is entirely new. The point of this lecture is to restore a sense of historical time and agency against these narratives of past and present.
Sponsors: The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, The Leslie Center for the Humanities, The Political Economy Project, The Department of Government, The Department of Russian, The Department of History, and The Department of Film and Media Studies.

[@anti-skub2164]

5:15 he begins

[@normbabbitt4325]

I am ever so impressed with Timothy Snyder's insight, humanity and sweeping overview of history, especially as it relates to current events.

[@ellajakobson]

So timely xxx

[@aceofcups3493]

Kudos to Tim Snyder for weaving together the truth in an insightful theoretical paradigm.

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Thank you, again.

[@emilykrahn3185]

Thank you, Prof. Snyder. Another great discussion!

[@michelem7786]

@@piotrekes I'm Ukrainian, my mom was born in the USSR. This TDS sufferer is so intellectually dishonest. I suspect that most eastern European people would vehemently disagree with Snyner's recreation of history. He claims to know 20 languages. I'm assuming a lot gets lost in translation being spread that thin.

[@erpthompsonqueen9130]

Thank you.

[@teslaandhumanity7383]

Awesome teacher so knowledgeable , wow ! I’m so impressed 🇬🇧❤️🇺🇸 Never knew he went to Oxford University.

[@C3yl0]

Amazing discourse! I love to listen and learn from scholars which provide logical arguments and also real life examples to people u detest and what they are trying to convey. It shows mastery but also real love for teaching. Thanks 👽♥️♥️♥️

[@galapagoensis]

Another thing that gets me is the rude people that took on the emotional momentum to leave before he was done...

[@andrewj3398]

Make this go viral viewers please! Americans need to hear this.

[@WoodSprite4ever]

Andrew Jimenez I'm on it , I like to share knowledge !

[@spellbound55]

an academic lecture over an hour long going viral? Sadly not possible

[@juliamarple3058]

Andres J what more bs propaganda 🤔

[@juliamarple3058]

Molly Oy this is not knowledge, it’s socialist propaganda lead by the United Nation’s Agenda

[@lopezb]

I've just discovered Snyder and have been gobbling up his talks. They are all fascinating, extremely relevant and clarifying, especially given the impeachment hearings going on right now!

[@michelem7786]

You mean the impeachment hearings where they couldn't come up with one direct witness or even sight a crime in the impeachment articles. My mom is from the USSR, this guy is a marxist who is whitewashing actual history.

[@Doc_Tar]

Yeah, how'd that work out for you then?

[@robertmoffat5149]

Me too!

[@robertmoffat5149]

@@michelem7786 Bollocks.

[@stevej5185]

Snyder has just "ethered" Trump and his entire administration here! To mount a defense against Snyder's objectivity and rationality....woah; not possible. This lecture was FUCKING AMAZING! He perhaps poured all of his intellectual capacity into this lecture, and it's just simply amazing. Snyder, if you're reading, go on Joe Rogan's podcast ASAP. Snyder is Denzel in Man on Fire, here!

[@normbabbitt4325]

Yes, it would be great for Mr. Snyder to have to engage in an in depth interview on Joe Rogan's podcast!

[@stevej5185]

Rogan has millions upon millions of viewers/listeners, too. That would be great for book sales.

[@listener523]

That was your take away? As someone who appreciates his books on history this just makes me sad. I always thought TDD was just a meme. Here and now listening to a formerly impressive mind weaving odd conspiracy theories to craft a fairy tale for leftists who can't imagine that they lost an election. I don't know how well I will deal with another six years of watching Snider go mad.

[@damienpace7350]

Are you smoking dope right now Steve J?

[@georgeAreynoldsVI]

Suggest that viewers locate the Steven Kotkin lectures on Stalin for a more balanced, less politically correct interpretation of this period.

[@juliamarple3058]

George Reynolds yes, 💯👍

[@krautreport202]

Kotkins is also biased as hell. Not that this is a bad thing though - it's just how historic research works...

[@06alepea1]

@@krautreport202 Who is an unbiased historian on Stalin and the Soviet Union?

[@damienpace7350]

Agreed what a disappointment putting them both on the same stage

[@mrniceguy7168]

I am glad that others in the comments have noticed the contrast between Kotkin and Snyder. But notice the difference in reception. Snyder gets the roaring applause! Incredible.

[@davemacnicol8404]

This applause is not something to be proud of. They like him because of the trump jokes. And he says what they want to hear. Funny he wouldn't get the same reception at Liberty, Hillsdale, or BYU.

[@SGMC1000]

This not an argument being made but a narrative spun.

[@DynaCatlovesme]

There is truth to your observation, but isn't the counter-argument just a counter-narrative? Or, pertinent to Snyder's narrative, several counter-narratives?

[@luisclovis09]

8:33. The class struggle. Close video. How did i end up in this garbage lecture from watching milton friedman. Fucking youtube algorithm.....

[@jploeg8862]

Yeah I love the part where he insinuates the Trump voters are all drug addicts.... Lol

[@dukedematteo1995]

@@jploeg8862 or that a couple thousand in social media bots swung 70k votes....ridiculous.

[@stevendurrant1724]

Talk starts at 5m 30s

[@russiaexitcrimea2203]

Brilliant.

[@kawai_acustic]

Cool nickname

[@awuma]

This is absolutely brilliant. I am very impressed by how much his thinking has advanced over the past year or so. This talk is about the US, but the ideas are generally applicable, for example in Europe. A month or two ago he gave a lecture in Polish applying his time concepts to WWII and the Holocaust. And of course what is happening now in Poland and Hungary is very well illuminated by his thinking as presented here. As for social media, I highly recommend the book by Jonathan Taplin, "Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy".

[@TheJagjr4450]

Hungary is doing something positive they have kicked Soros and all of his NGO's out and are attempting to keep the dissidents from overthrowing the government. AND is actually going to do better than the EU in general because they are willing to uphold the rule of law and limit immigration of non skilled migrants.

[@awuma]

TheJagjr4450 What a dismal comment. As for NGO's "overthrowing the government", I can only question the composition of your smoking material ...

[@brunoreis9406]

Check Hungary again, pls

[@rubysmoke7150]

at 32 min spoke to me

[@SkyeRangerNick]

ty

[@gomaxim7057]

Discrimination against whites is not fiction at all. Just because this kind of discrimination framed as "affirmative action" is ideologically accepted by many people doesn't make it moral. People like Snyder always start with determining "who are the good and the bad guys of today?" and build their theories on the basis of that. Not in any moment one has the impression that here is a scientist who is honestly searching for a truthful and well-balanced explanation of the world. It's 100% ideology and partisanship from the get-go.

[@robertmoffat5149]

Yeah absolutely if you snort heroin. No question.

[@dickhamilton3517]

I think you'd be better off listening to Snyder's 14 short talks on this topic on his channel - he lays it out more clearly there

[@JesusOfIskcon]

My favorite video on his channel is "Timothy Snyder Speaks, ep. 8: Cybercolony USA" You will see why he keeps comments turned off.

[@randallsmith5631]

Kudos to Prof. Snyder.

[@juliotamayo413]

This is not a lecture, this is a political rally.

[@RoxanneM-]

This stopped being political because it’s fact.

[@BramowitchIII]

15:00 I am wondering which "they" he refers to. Power switched hands quite considerably from 1945 to afterwards.

[@hazelwray5307]

After 1945

[@davemacnicol8404]

Except for the simple concept that "levels of inequality" is a loaded term. The existence of inequality doesn't prove that political and economic policies are to blame. It's more complicated than this. This is why freedom is such a precarious situation. It's freedom to be what you want. To not be as successful as you might be, to numb your ambitions with mood altering substances, or to be taken care of by others. To rely on the Government, of which we should be so frightened, to provide for our needs. Mobility, not inequality should be what we are focusing on. I love how intelligent, great minds of history crumble and bow at the feet of young liberal college kids. How about explaining that the real risk is the co-opting racial and economic issues to gain votes and power. How about telling them not to believe the ones that are saying what they want to hear.

[@Bestmonks]

If property rights comes from state...then from where state sovereignty comes from?

[@aceofcups3493]

Force

[@oliverfrench467]

5:20

[@livi_gigi_art]

YES

[@BramowitchIII]

Democracies don't fall apart, they are clawed apart. The sooner we learn that we can start to point fingers at those who do.

[@hazelwray5307]

Clawed apart? Those that do what?

[@juliotamayo413]

@Hazel Wray clawed apart by those who are constantly claiming fictitious oppression and want to dismantle the system instead of improving it. And also by scholars who compare a movement with nazis while forget to compare the other one with bolcheviques and that second similarity is even more evident.

[@davemacnicol8404]

Right. The ones you should fear are the ones telling you that you have been oppressed. Even if you have, you should be told that you don't have to be a victim of circumstances and oppression doesn't dictate your outcome.. Not, "vote for me and I'll fix it"

[@JohnCahillChapel]

Politics is not the culture locals cherish. Political narratives do not represent what people love about themselves.

[@ms2506]

deutschland über alles- Germany over everything, not make Germany great again

[@romeomatei5692]

Yes. In the beginning "Deutschland uber alles" meant "unite the Germans". The Nazis hijacked the meaning and pretended to rule the world. But to be fair to Timothy Snyder, most people living today think about the German hymn as something very old, when Germany was great. IMHO Germany today is greater than ever. It rules Europe, without war. Most politicians in Europe get their bearings from Berlin. And economically speaking the Euro is tailor made for the German ordo-liberalism. This cannot last. But all things in life have an expiration date.

[@stevej5185]

Yeah, Germany is Europe's golden child, if you will. To such a point many are calling Angela Merkel the "new leader of the free world."

[@Dorian_sapiens]

It's just the substitution of a spatial metaphor (over or above) with a temporal one (before or first)-and, of course, a change of country-that transforms "Deutschland über alles" into "America first".

[@andrewj3398]

M S trump says “America first” constantly which is the exact same idea. And then he makes ties and shoes in China while stiffing his contractors.p

[@ScienzNerd]

M S Thanks for spelling the phrase

[@badomaji]

It’s not the Boomers, it is the ‘Silent’ generation! (silent majority) Those born between approx 1928-1947. Look who is running this election season. Didn’t you mention the same cohort who established themselves in Russian politics who are making their ‘now’? Great talk, thanks.

[@ttacking_you]

Lil monolithic there bud

[@rexel666]

What does he mean - there never was a British nation state?

[@theultimatewarrior2218]

Great Britain was once a great empire made up of colonies all over the world. It wasn't just what we see it to be now, even though we were taught to believe it has always been so.

[@krautreport202]

There was a feudal kingdom followed by a worldwide empire, followed by a part of the European Community. The British Isles as a democracy all for themselves arguably is unprecedented. The UK tries to perform as a nationstate for the first time ever right now.

[@roc7880]

he says that Britain was an empire first.

[@jploeg8862]

I think it means this guy should not be teaching anyone history he's a crack pot

[@NorthernObserver]

The comments below explain the idea but where Snyder is lying to you is smuggling in the idea that there is no ethnic, cultural and genetic continuity within the British Isles or any other of the European Nations. He uses the reality of Empire to deny the reality of European ethnic identity; presumably with the idea of validating mass immigration and the ongoing racial mixing of Europe with population flows from the Mid East or Africa. Pretty Evil if you ask me. Why should every nation in the world be allowed ethnic continuity but not the European nations?

[@juliotamayo413]

How can you say América is a great experiment of democracy and outside of it almost every nation is bad and at the same time "America first" is bad?

[@hannshartz4815]

Good point about the EU as settlement of failed colonial powers, not nation states. I do think nevertheless, that being a colonial power doesn't preclude being a nation state. France was a nation state since the 1st French revolution, notwithstanding its biggest gains in colonies were after that. That is the case with Germany also. Nationstatehood was the condition for becoming a colonial power. And as for the Nazis, extreme Nationalism was a precondition for their war of conquest against eastern europe. And let's look at the US: Wasn't it a nation state from the beginning and at the same time a colonial power (on its own land) a an imperialist power overseas? On the other hand, the franco-german rapprochement after WWII had certainly to do with the insight, that war in Europe could only be overcome by unifying their resources in ore and coal which were at the core of the wars since 1870. That led to the Montanunion which was the germ of the European Union.

[@thenorseman8964]

Dude, you're not going into surgery; you can put your hands down. j/k Actually, a good speaker with some insightful thoughts about current politics.

[@roc7880]

he thinks he is black and the audience are all cops

[@stephaniestuart3041]

I find this discussion incredibly thought-provoking and insightful, but am let down with how unbalanced the political rhetoric is. I think that to fully understand what is happening is to accept that the left and the right are sides of the same coin. Maybe it was just easier to default to highlighting the faults of the Trump administration, especially with how fashionable it was/is. But, the same principles are also applicable on the other side. In fact, he begins to say these things but falls short of tying it all together. I personally think that this lecture and these theories would be altogether more powerful if analyzed from the perspective of the "human condition". Why would these behaviors be inevitable if it weren't for the one common thread, humans? These things do not occur in a void, as he also begins to state but does not complete, but instead are cultivated through actions taken by people. I think ultimately what his theory is lacking is the individual behind the group. Nonetheless, he plants seeds worth thinking about.

[@Jan96106]

While one doesn't have to agree with absolutely everything he says, those who insist he's wrong about everything and merely call him names are having such a visceral reaction to his lecture that it gives me pause. "Methinks the lady/[man] doth protest too much." He's correct about the tactics of the political right here in the United States. These movements follow similar patterns and use similar tactics around the globe and throughout history. KZbin has so much potential for learning if more commentators (there are some) genuinely engaged in dialogue and presented evidence for their positions instead of resorting to nasty name-calling. Actually, some of the basic ideas underpinning many speakers about threats to democracy come from George Orwell, one of the most astute political writers ever.

[@jploeg8862]

well the problem with what you've stated is that some of the stuff he says is so patently ridiculous and absurd you can't take him seriously anywhere else.

[@jonathangammond3019]

Spain underwent a century and half long crisis after losing its colonies in South America and didnt emerge from it until the early 1980s.

[@1995tom2010]

Makes me sad how he doesn't specify Ireland as a member of the EU that was never a colonial empire, but subjugated to a colonial Empire, then became a (somewhat unsuccessful) nation state and THEN joined the EU. Oh well haha

[@charlespeterson3798]

Each statement you make renders the next even more irrelevant.

[@juliamarple3058]

People are best to search out true lectures to gain honest accounts of history and it’s effects upon us today. Snyder cannot do that as he is a bias socialist guided by the United Nation’s Agenda

[@roc7880]

true. but he looks at the founding nations

[@1995tom2010]

@@juliamarple3058 well you're a crackpot

[@1995tom2010]

@@charlespeterson3798 care to expand on your crushing critique of my KZbin comment?

[@anyakosta364]

This is interesting cause The Ukrainian government now Are from 1970s..... And Ukraine was under the Soviet union also......but look at the difference now......

[@roc7880]

this is also an oversimplification. The Bolshevik revolution started as a confused movement, they were not able to decide between themselves what does it mean. Lenin started NEP who could have been the start of a mixed system between state and private enterprise if Stalin would have been sent to Siberia (again!), and there were a lot of ideas about how to change the society. The repression was not a necessary consequence of the revolution after 1921, and it could have ended as a mild Finland. The reaction to Bolshevik revolution was also not necessary to get a Fascist shape, it could have ended just a mild corporatism and conservatism.

[@hazelwray5307]

There was the 'red terror' to begin with, targeting Mensheviks, SR's, anarchists etc. A ban on party factionalism coincided with the start of NEP, in 1921. Stalin was aligned with Bakunin and NEP for most of the 20's. It was the Left opposition that emphasized investment in industry and a restoration of grass roots democracy. Stalin came round to the former, but not the latter.

[@giovannichiaranti9775]

The left wanted to continue the collectivisation in the countryside. and also Stalin wanted that (It was what It did). Lenin never intended to start a mixed economy, he was strictly comunist. The nep was just a tactical.

[@roc7880]

@@giovannichiaranti9775 the left first made the farmers owners of the land. that was capitalism not communism. there were many in the party who opposed collectivisation at least the forced one. the history could have been different

[@giovannichiaranti9775]

@@roc7880 I am not that sure. But even with mixed economy for small there Is a problem: I guess that the small capitalistic farmer and business had to stay small and not challenge the big state corporations. That means basically to prevent innovation because the central planning can' t do that easily and a small business is too small. The only possibile solution could have been to abandon totally comunism and to become something like modern China

[@roc7880]

@@giovannichiaranti9775 you are so simplistic. you also forget that China has still an important state owned sector, which is not entirely inefficient. one important function of this sector, misunderstood by the foreigners, is to absorb the unmployed workers from the rest of the economy. you can complain about the costs, but Chinese state is scared by the danger of revolt in case of a recession. keeping people employed means keeping people from protesting.

[@2005kiefer]

Sophistry

[@robertmoffat5149]

Your word for the week dumdum?? LMFAO!!

[@andreneto7898]

I have listened very carefully and conclude that by restructuring the concept of history and politics, one manages to shape opinions by maintaining certain facts, but in doing so he will have to divert the recently reformulated opinion and put it in a new direction. something that many illusionists do in their tricks, tricks are scientific facts, but when we emphasize a fact wrapping it in miticismo we create the fact in a very appealing and mysterious language and although we know that it is a fact we want so much to believe in this new language that we are taking to a future that is not real but that has very realistic consequences. the spectrum of politics is deeply rooted in history, and if we begin to camouflage certain historical facts and excite others, the impartial perception of history itself begins to fade, these types of discourse are an example of this. if freedom means anything, it is above all telling other people what they do not want to hear. if you are told what you want to hear and only hear what you mean you have no freedom, you have the standard of a non-player in life. And the story continues to be told by those who matter most.

[@robertmoffat5149]

Essentially what TS says is radical and heretical. If you read the comments this completely explains why so many people hate him. However I think he’s brilliant and right on the money.

[@denverbevins4052]

Terrific example of several logical fallacies, particularly straw-man and equivocation, presented by an authority figure to a captive audience. That college students are taught to reason via irrational cynicism is simply vile.

[@theultimatewarrior2218]

This is the most inciteful and intelligible analysis of the history of world politics ever. Brilliantly concise and very factual at the same time. I wish that people would do their research before dismissing what he teaches as rubbish or craziness.

[@davemacnicol8404]

I loved bloodlands, but have lost all respect for Snyder at this point. And you should too.

[@jploeg8862]

There was never a British nation state is this guy crazy how can anyone take this dude seriously.....

[@foucault8964]

There’s always a crazy old lady at these events…

[@marvinsannes9397]

lasted 5 minutes. Crackpot or mercenary. Russia began selling THEIR oil for rubles on 6.6.14.

[@galapagoensis]

At 1:30:00 someone’s granny just got slapped in the mouth 😂

[@nitrobolo6663]

From very essential and substantive points to shit points. Well, i guess you need to figure out some stuff by yourself.

[@brianjhieb]

He just assumes it’s all Russia, as if the us doesn’t have any one working behind the scene.

[@fercos33]

He could be describing the democrat party platform perfectly when he's talking about the politics of inevitability, and I guess he is.

[@asdfa12fdsafasfd]

lmao this one is garbage compared to the rest in this series. Theory derided on assumption presented as Fact.

[@pillbox1240]

Cut out the stupid intros.

[@olpossum5186]

about north carolina, and his comment there is a democratic majority but a republican controlled house... 1. there's lots of old style "blue dog" conservative democrats still around that haven't changed their registration, the kind of folks that voted for reagan back in the day, and have been left behind by that party since clinton. 2. there's the college/university towns- greensboro, raleigh/chapel hill, wilmington, asheville, charlotte - the liberal/progressive vote is clustered in the areas around these locations. what you are complaining about is the lack of the tyranny of the majority, since you think the majority that reside in the urban areas should be able to dictate to the rest of the counties how to live. NC, and the US are, surprise, set up to counter the majority in order to protect the minority. only a leftist would object to this. about israel: to suggest israel is not a peace-loving country, as if it asked to have been attacked a dozen times since its inception in '48, is of course only something a left wing loon would say. and where's he been for the last 20 years, suggesting our education has been nothing but promising "capitalism will fix it"? is he talking about bizarro-earth? because here they teach atheistic materialist post-modern cultural marxism, and have been for the last 30+ years. this guy's a marxist hack.

[@roc7880]

but in the end that marxism never translated in policies because kids later went for the system

[@Elivasfq]

After 3 years worth of evidence it is clear beyond a shadow of a doubt that this man is progressing political propaganda rather than meaningful information, to the extant of making his earlier work having questionable validity. What a disappointment.

[@rubysmoke7150]

so what is it you object too?

[@robertmoffat5149]

What does he say that is wrong? How does he merit your undying contempt? You can’t explain it since you’re an irreversible nitwit. Admit it.

[@Elivasfq]

@@robertmoffat5149 He basically says that trump is a Russian agent, and this is, as we all now know, a "big nothing burger".

[@robertmoffat5149]

@@Elivasfq He is a Russian agent but Biden is an agent of Wallstreet. Not much of an improvement. I don't really give a fuck. I'm Canadian.

[@kspfan001]

I agree that he goes way off into coo-coo land with the russiagate stuff. But, the general theory of history he has here is actually kinda interesting he just failed to apply it properly within the present at the time. Anyone in academia or the media who questioned or was skeptical of the russiagate stuff at the time got marginalized & ejected out into the wilderness (or foxnews), so not that surprising to hear someone who is usually pretty level-headed go off the rails. He was probably just trying to keep his job.

[@sittertal]

The statement „Trump is a fictional Character created by Russia“ says it all about the paranoiac content of the theory of Tim Snyder.

[@azdi7777]

Laughing My Ass Off. For someone who who says history is not needed and goes back to 2016 for a fictional account of history with is LAUGHABLE

[@annanymous3165]

He is either socialist or Globalist....

[@roc7880]

neither, he is a historian. he analyzes global events without being a globalist

[@hazelwray5307]

There's the globalization initiated by Ronald Reagan and Thatcher (following on from Pinochet and the Chicago boys - neo liberalism) ... and there are global post WWII institutions like the UN...in which the US has a veto...initiated by Roosevelt and Churchill.

[@stevenwebbjr7639]

The russians are in favor of americans having guns? Well thats odd.

[@comoane]

Not as long as they keep shooting each other.

[@biancavonmuhlendorf2608]

one cannot compare seriously Trump with Hitler, this is rediculous. And this as "science" from Yale. Unbelievable.

[@corryjookit7818]

It took Hitler and his supporters 6 months to put Nazism and Nazi's in charge in Germany. SIX MONTHS !

[@jploeg8862]

Isn't Yale one of the best schools in the country.... Lol

[@canteluna]

The governing problem in the US is that we have increasingly become a nation of government divided by those in favor of increasing the scope of the democratic process versus those in favor of limiting the scope of democracy. When I say increasing the scope of the democratic process, I mean a few things, such as making it easier to vote rather than harder, creating policy that better enables opportunity for affordable education and employment with a minimum of a living wage and access to affordable healthcare. The policy differences on these issues have pretty much defined the distinction between liberals and conservatives in recent history. Unfortunately, it seems we have short supply of politicians and citizens that represent those categories now, we have too many on the the socialist left and the reactionary right, in my opinion. “Identity politics” has been poisoning our republic for a while now on both the left and the right, but especially on the left - again, my opinion. The parties are adversarial now to the point where we no longer work for what used to be called the “common good” which is actually what liberal government is for - of course framed around the concept of individual rights, but not to the point where there are no common goals or national identity (of course one has to be careful not to subjugate individual rights to collective goals). A return to liberal values and policy is what I advocate. The GOP has become too authoritarian, libertarian (I know that sounds like an oxymoron but I am not claiming the GOP has a coherent governing philosophy) and too many support “dark money” in politics. Like libertarians, they want to leave most human need to the market (this has not worked out well in healthcare and in the workplace). They are now trying to steal elections. That is about as reactionary and anti-liberal and democratic as you can get. The Left is on a religious mission of racializing and socializing just about every aspect of our institutions. This is also illiberal and a great threat to ur republic. The current controversy over Critical Race Theory (whether it is simply a means to expose and address systemic racism or is an activist tool to racialize every aspect of society) seems to epitomize the position of the left and the left has pretty much taken over the Democratic party. Unfortunately, I heard Timothy Snyder make a comment in support of CRT (or at least support efforts against those fighting against CRT) sometime in 2021 on MSNBC. Shame. Snyder understands well the problem of socialism and its totalitarian manifestation and so should look deeper into the origins and methods of CRT.

[@conservativerot2346]

Couldn't agree more, and couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the post, and to all you Russian trolls - fuck off and die.

[@NorthernObserver]

You’ve rationalized the validity and legitimacy your own power. You’re convinced that breaking the norms of the Republic in favour of hyper democratization favours you so you praise it but we can see that your faith is skin deep, if a violent coup could get you want you wanted you would embrace it in a heartbeat. After all you are legitimate and right in your cause. If the American Left want to convince me of good intent they need to restore order to America’s cities, clear Antifa from the streets and end their support for the racist doctrine of CRT. Somehow I doubt the American Left can let go of its fanaticism and rhetorical violence, after all its working and power is the ultimate goal of the American Left.

[@canteluna]

@@NorthernObserver I am not a leftist, I don't favor "hyper-democratization", I don't advocate violence or revolution, I don't support antifa and I loathe CRT so your comments are not actually addressing what I said in my badly written rant. You've created a straw man.

[@canteluna]

@@NorthernObserver I think you were extrapolating on my rant, taking it to the left, where I am not. I have re-written it. Let me know if you disagree with anything I've said now. I do admit when I wrote the rant three years ago, my understanding of CRT was that it was well meaning and rather innocuous, I have since learned more about it.

[@andymaxwell2359]

Are you really all that impressed by a guy who attacks axiomatic political philosophies while throwing in his own axiomatic political philosophy? Because he speaks quickly? Ah well, it's always been that way.

[@carlosfdoria8671]

all BS

[@christianmcdowell3052]

This is just about the worst lecture I've heard on the topic.

[@juliamarple3058]

No, this is not a an accurate observation of history , nor, indeed what exactly is going on in the world today. Wishy washy political correctness. What about Stalin ? What about United Nation’s ?

[@robertholmes12]

A Hegel ripoff with all the flaws of continental rationalism. Most cogent people don't think that more capitalism is going to lead to more freedom. Most cogent people don't think that the prevailing, material forces are guided by an internal logic that leads to repeating outcomes. Nations, peoples, classes, etc. are living, breathing organisms possessing a will, interacting with each other and their environment reacting to stimuli and changes, meeting challenges, et al. bound by certain laws of value and rationality but not deterministically by "internal logic". His rendering of history leaves out so many of the factors that create historical outcomes. History is not determined by the subjective experience of time!!!!!!!

[@Doc_Tar]

This lecture hasn't aged well and Prof. Snyder is often wrong in his assertions. Example, 14:25 Germany lost the first colonial war in Russia in WWII. Didn't the British lose a war with its American colonies in 1784? Then there's the earlier fallacy of confusing economic philosophy with politics. That's within the first 15 minutes of his presentation. This lecture is a prime example of an academic with a hammer of a model that he uses to pound every situation whether the fact fits the parameters of the model or not. Again, given nearly four year on now, the explanation of the present by trying to fit it to the frame of the past comes off as woefully inadequate. Politics of inevitability, in 2020 Trump is going to soundly beat Biden or whoever they decide to replace him with. Politics of eternity, President Trump will continue to control the border, renegotiate favorable trade deals and strength the Untied States to the benefit of the rest of the globe. Democrats will continue to oppose his initiatives by sowing lies, slander and outright criminal wrong doing. They will fail, bigly.

[@roc7880]

he meants the colonial wars that led to the EU creation

[@kspfan001]

Economics & Politics are essentially the same thing, hence why “Political-Economy” exists. Thinking that economics can be isolated from the political is the grand delusion of post-Fordist Capitalists. Even Fukuyama has conceded he was wrong about this.

[@Doc_Tar]

@@kspfan001 Really? When was the last time you went to city hall to get a price on a loaf of bread? Did you go to your local government website to do online shopping? Exactly how many refrigerators were made by any government in a free market economy? The only reason any one equates one with the other is because governments constantly interfere in the market place beyond their acceptable mandate of enforcing contracts and insuring a level playing field to compete. Just stop a moment with the Marxism and actual think how the real world actually works.