In February 1974, as the Soviet Union moved to arrest and expel him, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn published the essay “Live Not By Lies.” In it he argued that the Soviet state depended upon the citizenry’s assent to its lies, so that each individual was complicit in his own oppression. Solzhenitsyn called on each reader, not necessarily to become a dissident, but to refuse to affirm the myriad falsehoods that made up Soviet life. “We are not called upon to step out onto the square and shout out the truth, to say what we really think—this is scary, we are not ready. But let us at least refuse to say what we
There is a very real and substantial difference, I'm afraid. None of those defendants has been disappeared without trace, their family members haven't, to the best of my knowledge, been arrested or lost jobs because of being related to a "non-person". And last time I checked, there were no prison camps in Alaska or some other place with minus 40 degrees daily temperature...
Therefore, we should not allow our daily political passions to blur the difference between totalitarian mass murder and "just" authoritarian abuse of power. Such blurring is exactly what postmodernist ideologues of new totalitarianism desire.
I am a scientific researcher doing public policy research pro bono.. Multiple times per day I tell the truth to power without being arrested leading me to think it is currently safe in the United States to do so.
Well, that could be said for ANY system or regime in the history of the world. For better or worse, that is a part of the fabled "human nature".
Therefore, those who enjoy - even temporarily - such privileges as not to be arrested for thoughtcrime should appreciate and be grateful for that. Nobody has a crystal ball to see into the future, but each and every single day of living outside of true, hard totalitarianism is a gift to be grateful for.
I applaud Dreher’s exhortation to stand up to the falsehoods of social justice fundamentalism. (One of my small acts of resistance is refusing to state my pronouns at the beginning of company meetings). I am appalled, however, that Dreher—as reported by Vanderwall—does not condemn the massive lies of the authoritarian right for which Evangelical Christianity is largely culpable. The theologian Russell Moore is correct to call out the idolatry of MAGA Christians. Speaking of the former Soviet Union—let us not ignore that Russian Orthodoxy enables the totalitarian and expansionist state of Vladimir Putin. The only Christianity I can admire is one that stands against all lies, all threats to democracy, all ideologies that undermine peace and decency.
I expect that freedom is fought for, by the right and the left, when the other side tries to impinge upon it, for (to them) all sorts of acceptable reasons. Each pole has its excesses and the other serves to moderate them, both in response to and using bare knuckle tactics.
This is unrelated, but I believe most people here might benefit:
Apply for over $3M Grant for Researchers, 54+ Funded MSc/Phd & Postdoc Opportunities in USA, France & Australia
Research Grant on Advancing Therapies Towards Curing Oncogenic-Driven Lung Cancer. ($2.5million| MMRF Scholars Research grant ($400,000| FARA's Research Grant ($275,000|
There is a very real and substantial difference, I'm afraid. None of those defendants has been disappeared without trace, their family members haven't, to the best of my knowledge, been arrested or lost jobs because of being related to a "non-person". And last time I checked, there were no prison camps in Alaska or some other place with minus 40 degrees daily temperature...
Therefore, we should not allow our daily political passions to blur the difference between totalitarian mass murder and "just" authoritarian abuse of power. Such blurring is exactly what postmodernist ideologues of new totalitarianism desire.
I am a scientific researcher doing public policy research pro bono.. Multiple times per day I tell the truth to power without being arrested leading me to think it is currently safe in the United States to do so.
For now…
Well, that could be said for ANY system or regime in the history of the world. For better or worse, that is a part of the fabled "human nature".
Therefore, those who enjoy - even temporarily - such privileges as not to be arrested for thoughtcrime should appreciate and be grateful for that. Nobody has a crystal ball to see into the future, but each and every single day of living outside of true, hard totalitarianism is a gift to be grateful for.
Hopefully we aren’t past the point of no return yet. The actions of the citizenry and events of this year will be crucial.
I applaud Dreher’s exhortation to stand up to the falsehoods of social justice fundamentalism. (One of my small acts of resistance is refusing to state my pronouns at the beginning of company meetings). I am appalled, however, that Dreher—as reported by Vanderwall—does not condemn the massive lies of the authoritarian right for which Evangelical Christianity is largely culpable. The theologian Russell Moore is correct to call out the idolatry of MAGA Christians. Speaking of the former Soviet Union—let us not ignore that Russian Orthodoxy enables the totalitarian and expansionist state of Vladimir Putin. The only Christianity I can admire is one that stands against all lies, all threats to democracy, all ideologies that undermine peace and decency.
I expect that freedom is fought for, by the right and the left, when the other side tries to impinge upon it, for (to them) all sorts of acceptable reasons. Each pole has its excesses and the other serves to moderate them, both in response to and using bare knuckle tactics.
There is zero difference between “hard” and “soft” totalitarianism, just ask the J6 defendants...
This is unrelated, but I believe most people here might benefit:
Apply for over $3M Grant for Researchers, 54+ Funded MSc/Phd & Postdoc Opportunities in USA, France & Australia
Research Grant on Advancing Therapies Towards Curing Oncogenic-Driven Lung Cancer. ($2.5million| MMRF Scholars Research grant ($400,000| FARA's Research Grant ($275,000|
https://gradinterface.substack.com/p/over-3m-grant-for-researchers-54