In Response

Response Prompt:

In this article, Michiko Kakutani cites Hannah Arendt from her book The Origin of Totalitarianism:

The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lie will now be accepted as truth and truth be defamed as a lie, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world — and the category of truth versus falsehood is among the mental means to this end — is being destroyed.

In a 2–4 paragraph discussion post, consider the following questions: What do you interpret Arendt to mean? Does it apply to the current moment that we are experiencing? If so, what, if anything, can we do about it?

Response, by Dee Richards:

Arendt says: “The sense by which we take our bearings in the real world… is being destroyed.” This is the most important sentence to summarize the topic to be understood. This is taken to mean that, as stated: “lies… become so commonplace as to become banal.” To clarify, banality is defined as lack in originality to the point of disinterest. To relate to the topic of the destruction of one’s ability to sense lies from truth, the first step is, obviously, disinterest in either.

In the referenced material, Arendt also posits that “a curiously varying mixture of gullibility and cynicism with which each member… is expected to react to the changing lying statements of the leaders.” In understanding of this statement, it is applied to mean that if you do believe a lie, no matter how well-constructed, you are gullible. When faced with your gullibility, you must react with cynicism of the system that created your gullibility, not blame the leader who spoke the lie. Or, alternatively, blame the leader and mistrust the system which created them. Either way, the outcome is the same. Which, in turn, creates the commonplace nature of lies, and thus, creates the culture of banality and disinterest in determining lies from reality.

“mixture of gullibility and cynicism… is prevalent in all ranks of totalitarian movements”

The biggest effort that can be undertaken to revert this breeding ground for banal information disorder is the systematic destruction of patriarchal systems which have formed our social evolution up to this point. A patriarchal system which insists that “the other” is to blame for your being duped, and thus removes personal reflection as “unmanly”, and eschews personal responsibility to achieving an active dedication toward truth. This infrastructure keeps us ever near an edge of reversion to ancient systems of totalitarianism, and is patriarchy which insists that a unilateral perspective is the only valid one, and informs all systems of understanding within its own narrow window. The dismantling of the patriarchy which continuously feeds your own internal narrative (male, female, and other alike) needs to be disrupted within your own thoughts long before anyone can accept that they might be responsible for contributing toward our own end of “our bearings in the real world… being destroyed.”