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An intellectual giant, made to look stupid by her fellow Jews (mostly men) for trying to understand the true nature of human evil (revenge is more important to some of them, and don’t we know it?).
Her legacy lives on in Tim Snyder and others.
Wonderful reference post.
And what did Steve Bannon tell us……………………..
I agree, her legacy lives on.
Interesting isn’t it that those observations were based on what Arendt had seen of Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union – but would equally apply to now in the US, Israel, and let’s not forget – because it tends to get submerged by the Trump/Netanyahu horror shows – that we’re seeing very similar developments here in the UK.
But as an addition – and a slightly positive one at that – it’s worth watch the top segment from Rachel Maddow on Monday, though I should add that the second one down is depressing: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
Well worth 15 minutes of anyone’s time as you won’t find current affairs reporting and/or analysis of this quality anywhere in the UK news media.
Also this segment from Lawrence O’Donnell which starts by discussing a new – and very significant – discovery by researchers at Harvard, where their work is now threatened by Trump, but expand into a very insightful – and deeply worrying – piece on the attacks on US history that have also been launched by Trump (as an Executive Order), as dictated by Project 2025 and one of it’s lead authors.
https://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/yale-history-professor-torches-trump-s-political-war-on-american-history-244558405971
(The segments on Trump’s Epstein links are also worth watching assuming people aren’t bored with this stuff).
Thanks, Ivan.
Flood the social and political landscape with contradictory, confusing and purposefully conflicting messages, tweets, half truths and lies is one way of drowning out truth and getting many caught up in what I call the 3 Ds, ‘Deception, Diversion & Distraction’.
You only have to look at the hoo ha around the Brexit debacle, particularly the lead up to the vote. I looked at the people who seemed to desire the separation and made my own decision quietly.
But I think it is completely deliberate on many levels and we do have to wade through seas of misinformation and disinformation before we get to the little islands of truth.
Tim H, the commenter formerly known as Timbo.
I think it does make sense, clear sense. Sadly we seem to be living through a continued growth of fascism in our society and abroad. Eurozine published a short essay On Fascization (https://www.eurozine.com/on-fascization/) that I found very interesting, but increasing worrying.
“Fascism is first and foremost a language. While authoritarianism is silent, and silences people, fascism speaks and writes, and makes people do the same. Fascization must then first be sought in the babble, the earliest pidgin, the inchoate speech that later spawns fascist language.”
If I listen at the moment I hear about those small boats, gender-ideology, wokeness and sharia courts. The press play their role too, disabled people are too expensive, asylum seekers are a threat, we can’t afford the NHS and queer people lurk behind every corner (https://brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/the-telegraphs-m-and-s-trans-shop). Is the UK becoming fascist?
Most apposite re our Government
Richard, that’s why your website, what you choose to post and what your more informed respondents post is all so important.
Thanks for that reminder of Arendt.
The media, who by the way have form on this, are by far the biggest propogators of the lies and misinformation that is fed on a daily basis to a confused population. They really should( and perhaps do) know better.
The average citizen is bemused by these stories, as they were in the previous incarnations of fascism or attempts to implement it.
Personally, I ignore nearly all of the stuff that is churned out by people promoting fascism and try to correct crooked thinking wheneverI get the chance. My local Labour MP seems to be aware of what’s going on, which helps.
The media has been captured.
I imagine that Arendt’s writings helped shape the Putin’s svengali – Surkov – and now both are shaping the ‘post truth’ chaos on Trump/Bannon
“Is Trump’s Chaos Tornado a Move From the Kremlin’s Playbook?” | Vanity Fair
https://share.google/6UObpxa4ssjYI6xJ8
I think if Arendt were still alive she might be mightly impressed by this anti Trump AI manufactured short video of the future – 2028 to be precise.
Hat Tip to Julia Davis’s Russia Watch for sharing it.
https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1953878813168865690
That might be going on the blog.