Timothy Snyder applies the 20 lessons of the essay 'On Tyranny' to the recent war in Ukraine in an extended audiobook "chat". He reminds that history is not destined to turn out the way we hope. We are seeing it happen in Ukraine. The question is not only what we can do, but how we think. Snyder contends (as he does more in depth in 'Road to Unfreedom') that how we view the progress of history determines how we act in the present. There are two competing views in the world today. One sees history as repeating cycles and therefore nothing really changes so nothing can be done. The other sees history as having an inevitable positive outcome ie. triumph of good over evil, of democracy over tyranny, and therefore we don't need to seriously do much it will all work out. The problem is neither view is correct . Indeed the overly optimistic view of the second, when faced with hard realities, can cause a reversion to the first view. Both absolve individuals from having any responsibility. Snyder says the way out of this trap is to see history in detail, how it actually happens. It's often ludicrous, unfair, uneven, unpredictable, contingent, random. From this one learns nothing is preordained, but also, the future is in our hands. ( )