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#BanalityOfEvil

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Did we catch this? During the press availability in the Oval Office today, May 30, 2025, Elon Musk—on his "last day" as head of the fake "Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)"—appropriated Hannah Arendt’s phrase "the banality of evil" to describe routine government bureaucracy.

youtu.be/2Pv2V_7QbC4

#Gaslighting

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𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐭 - 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒎 - Chapter One: Antisemitism as an Outrage to Common Sense

I'm reading Arendt's history on the horrors of Stalinism and Nazism. Here are some of my reflections; read and follow along with me!

youtu.be/nmtwtwbisXM

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Replied in thread

@serge That’s a big reason I’m here. The blatant #antisemitism doesn’t bother me near as much as does the generally apathetic response of admins and other users.

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” —#MLK

Continued thread

Admittedly, there are worse things people are dealing with these days than trying to find a new way to make a living. But the banality of evil means we all still have to, and it gets harder and harder, and we compete with each other for smaller scraps of the economy. And the need for income continues even as the jackboots pound the streets.

I build plastic models. Have done so since childhood and the internet has enabled me to connect with modellers around the world.
I met a kid from Florida.
At first we corresponded about modelling. He was young so I shared as many tips and tricks as I could. Then he began asking me philosophical questions and about life.
This kid was privileged and had access to education. He wanted to study medicine and I encouraged him to do so. We were talking about all kinds of deep stuff...life, the universe, spirituality...all kinds.
He decided to change to engineering. I encouraged this too...education is power and freedom.
A couple of years in, he told me a company had offered him an internship. 'Awesome' I said.
Time passes, I ask him how it's going. "Great" he says, "they've offered me a job and I'm starting on Monday!"
"Fantastic!!" I say. "Who are you working for?"

"Lockheed-Martin".

Our friendship ended instantly.
#BanalityOfEvil

" I changed my mind and do no longer speak of “radical evil.” … It is indeed my opinion now that evil is never “radical,” that it is only extreme, and that it possesses neither depth nor any demonic dimension. It can overgrow and lay waste the whole world precisely because it spreads like a fungus on the surface. It is “thought-defying,” as I said, because thought tries to reach some depth, to go to the roots, and the moment it concerns itself with evil, it is frustrated because there is nothing. That is its “banality.” Only the good has depth that can be radical." ---Hannah Arendt
#Evil #BanalityOfEvil #HannahArendt