Could authoritarianism arise in the United States through ordinary democratic processes? Sinclair Lewis posed this unsettling question in his 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here in which he imagines the election of a populist leader and a complacent public in America. (We will read only a synopsis of this novel). We will discuss George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language,” his 1946 essay which examines how political language can obscure truth and make troubling ideas appear acceptable. We will then read and discuss Orwell’s novel 1984 (published in 1949) which raises questions as to whether the manipulation of facts is a precursor to tyranny or its most powerful tool and whether it is possible to remain intellectually and morally aware in a culture of distortion and surveillance. We will conclude (or begin) by discussing Timothy Snyder’s 2017 On Tyranny with its twenty lessons for recognizing and resisting all forms of authoritarianism. Participants should be prepared for discussions that are thoughtful and personally reflective but not partisan and to bring historical examples and perspectives to these discussions. The goal is not to agree but to see more precisely how power operates –and how one might, or might not, resist it.

Tyler Knowles retired after 34 years of teaching English and chairing the English Department at the Winsor School, an independent school for girls in Boston. She also taught English and writing at the University of Wisconsin, Boston University, and Dartmouth College before Winsor. More recently, she served nine years on the GSA Board.

Norm Olsen retired after 26-years as a U.S. Diplomat and Foreign Service Officer. In his final State Department assignment, Norm served as Associate Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department in Washington, D.C.