Modern Fascism, the Collapse of Truth, and Why Americans Need “Small Courage”

Timothy Snyder · 15 Oct 2026

Timothy Snyder did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Fascism works as a tool to divert people toward a false us and them, away from the real division between ordinary people and those who have their hands in their wallets.

Their wordsThe fascism is a tool to divide, to divert, to direct people towards a false us and them. Whereas the real us and them is that they have their hands in our wallet.
Our reading
Many people with great wealth and power are almost completely cut off from the world.

Their wordsA lot of people with a lot of means, a lot of wealth and a lot of power are cut off pretty much completely from the world.
Our reading
Courage is best thought of as something small.

Their wordsI think it's very important that we think of courage as something which is small.

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