Mike Quigley: “Author and historian Timothy Snyder said in his book, ``On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,'' that…”

“Author and historian Timothy Snyder said in his book, ``On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,'' that ``history does not repeat, but it does instruct.'' Indeed, we must constantly work to preserve our democratic institutions from those who wish to threaten them because one of the most powerful instructions or lessons from the last century is that democracy is deeply fragile, and more importantly, it can trend and fall into authoritarianism. There are those in this country who are ignoring the lessons of the past, or worse. Some of the most popular news programs, Facebook groups, and social media networks are those that spread deliberate or negligent misinformation for partisan gain, sure, but for financial gain especially. In 2018, the American Institutional Confidence Poll found that only 69 percent of Americans believed democracy is always preferable to any other kind of government. The remaining 31 percent either reported that they were open to authoritarianism under some circumstances or they were so disillusioned with politics that the type of government didn't matter. While 69 percent may not seem alarming, it is nearly the same number of Hungarians who reported that democratic values, such as multiparty elections, were ``very important'' the same year that autocratic Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban began his ascent to power.…”