“Lesson 1 – Do not obey in advance.”

By the 2025 Genesis MICAH intern

Timothy Snyder starts his book On Tyranny with a simple but powerful idea: don’t obey in advance. What he means is, when people in power start doing things that seem wrong or unfair, many regular people start to go along with it without being told to. They stay quiet, follow the crowd, or decide it’s not their problem.

This lesson tells us that when we do that, when we obey before we even have to, we’re helping that bad system grow stronger. History shows us that dictators and dangerous leaders count on people being silent or scared. That’s how some of the worst events in history started: with people doing nothing. This connects and resonates a lot with what is going on, and some group of people not wanting to speak up because they feel like this is their fight, or they aren't the ones being targeted. 

Reading this made me realize that small choices do matter. It’s okay to speak up when something feels wrong. It’s also okay to say no. Even if it feels uncomfortable, even if others are just going along, someone needs to step up first, whether that be an organization or a person who wants their voice to be heard. 

Snyder is basically saying: don’t wait for things to get terrible to care. Stand up for what’s right early, even in small ways. Whether it’s defending someone being treated unfairly, questioning a rule that seems wrong, or just refusing to join in on harmful behavior, those actions can make a big difference.

This part of the book reminded me that the people we all have, that we power, even if we don’t think we do. It starts with choosing not to follow something just because everyone else is.