The Power of the Powerless

A year ago we took up Timothy Snyder's book On Freedom. During that session we brought up another book - The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel. Since then we have mentioned it several times in our discussions and our Prime Minister has drawn heavily from it in a little speech he gave in Davos. We think it's time to look at this short book again and all of the little gems of wisdom it contains. Below you'll find a link where you can read the pdf of it and we can share the ebook as well - message Tess if you want it.

Here's the pdf link to Václav Havel's long essay The Power of the Powerless. The whole essay is quite good, but if you're short on time you can cut out sections XII to XIX where he talks more about the nature of dissidence and dissident groups in Czechoslovakia. It's hard to see where Section XII starts in the linked pdf - it is in the first paragraph on pg 34. If you're skipping the less pertinent, you can pick up again at Section XX on pg 72.