Resist Authoritarianism by Refusing to Obey in Advance (2017)

Perceived Timeliness & Current Events

• Commenters see the piece as timely because of recent examples of unilateral power: renaming an international body of water at a leader’s whim, alleged data scrubbing and legal defiance by federal agencies, and signals that “I can do whatever I want.”
• Some view these moves as symbolic but dangerous “power flexes”; others note they may have concrete legal or regulatory consequences.

Rule of Law, Obedience, and Resistance Tactics

• Strong emphasis on vocally insisting on the rule of law and judicial authority: if leaders want major change, they should do it through legislation, not decree.
• Pushback: laws are human-made and can encode injustice; “rule of law” can become indistinguishable from arbitrary rule if captured by bad actors.
• Debate over protest style: rights may be “obnoxious” in practice, but some argue visible, even impolite activism is necessary to create space for later “polite” politics.

History, Snyder’s Work, and Lessons from Autocracy

• Multiple recommendations for the author’s books, especially on how mass atrocities in Central/Eastern Europe show liberal democracy, though flawed, is vastly preferable to autocracy.
• One thread stresses that Nazism was not a unique aberration; other regimes in the same region committed comparable mass crimes, implying the capacity for evil is widespread.
• Another thread questions Western “at least we’re not X” complacency and asks whether similar rationalizations existed in 1940s Germany.

Violence, the State, and Class/Ruling-Elite Debates

• Extended exchange on whether violence is the fundamental political tool of the ruling class.
• One side invokes concepts like the state’s monopoly on violence and the need to distinguish state force for collective aims from private or factional violence.
• The other uses Marxist and related analysis: a single “ruling class” composed of contending factions whose shared material interests shape the state and its coercive apparatus.

Milgram and Human Obedience

• Several links challenge the standard interpretation of the Milgram experiments; obedience varied widely, and participants often resisted direct orders.
• Nonetheless, commenters agree even partial obedience under low-stakes lab conditions suggests people can be easily manipulated by authority or “Science with a capital S.”
• The general takeaway: real-world pressures (jobs, safety, threats) would likely produce even more compliance, underscoring the article’s warning about “obeying in advance.”

Where to Draw the Line on Authoritarianism

• A commenter poses edge cases: vaccine mandates tied to employment or care, mandatory reporting of undocumented immigrants, compelled pronoun use.
• Responses argue that once such decrees are credibly enforceable, resistance is already late; the key is pushing back early, especially via courts and institutional checks.
• Others note the slipperiness of “authoritarianism” accusations and the difficulty of specifying bright lines in advance.

HN Culture, Moderation, and “Political” Content

• Several are surprised the article reached the front page at all, citing frequent suppression of political links and noting this thread was eventually flagged/hidden.
• Discussion over whether “hackers” are inherently anti-authoritarian: some insist hacker culture is, others say HN now reflects “tech-bro” or establishment attitudes that often side with powerful corporations and strong leaders.
• Broader meta-point: even discussion of resisting authoritarianism is now branded “political,” and Nazi analogies are seen as highly charged, which can stifle historical reflection.