On Tyranny Part 2 notes

Investigate. Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media*. Realize that some of what is on the internet is there to harm you. Learn about sites that investigate propaganda campaigns (some of which come from abroad). Take responsibility for what you communicate with others.

Make eye contact and small talk. This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

Practice corporeal politics. Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

Establish a private life. Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware on a regular basis. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Tyrants seek the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have hooks.

Contribute to good causes. Be active in organizations, political or not, that express your own view of life. Pick a charity or two and set up autopay. Then you will have made a free choice that supports civil society and helps others to do good.

Learn from peers in other countries. Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends in other countries. The present difficulties in the United States are an element of a larger trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

Listen for dangerous words. Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism**. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

Be calm when the unthinkable arrives. Modern tyranny is terror management. When the terrorist attack comes, remember that authoritarians exploit such events in order to consolidate power. The sudden disaster that requires the end of checks and balances, the dissolution of opposition parties, the suspension of freedom of expression, the right to a fair trial, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Do not fall for it.

Be a patriot.*** Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

Be as courageous as you can. If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die under tyranny.

Source: On Tyranny. Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century (2017) by Timothy Snyder.

Again good advice.

*A person has to be careful of print media too. They can lie and distort just as well the internet media.

**The Left likes to label MAGA and America First people this. Meanwhile, Antifa and BLM are okay.

***Patriotism is a dirty word for the Left. They want to revise the history of this noble country, ignore and dismiss the Constitution, and generally disrespect America and its symbols. Also, any POTUS who doesn't look out for the country and deliberately does actions that put in danger America's national security, economic system, and sovereignty is NOT patriotic. Finally, any business that puts its revenue over America's interest is not patriotic.