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The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Origins of Totalitarianism | Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, focusing on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in our timeNazi Germany and Stalinist Russiawhich she adroitly recognizes were two sides of the same coin, rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the evolution of classes into masses, the role of propaganda in dealing with the nontotalitarian world, the use of terror, and the nature of isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination.
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keithmalek

The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction...and the distinction between true and false... no longer exist.

Anna40 Conspiracy theories ... these are people who no longer distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction. Quanon believe in lizard people amongst other things... 4y
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HillsAndHamletsBookshop
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Pickpick

"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced nazi or the convinced communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact & fiction & the distinction between true & false no longer exist." The horror of the content, the hours of detailed 19th century socio-political history, & the advanced philosophy all combine to make this a challenging read. Yet it is an important, haunting, & troubling work rich with meaning for our times.

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Emilymdxn
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Pickpick

The perfect book to read right now - a tough quite academic read but not as impenetrable as I feared. Even though it‘s depressing, it made me feel better informed and more powerful to have read this, particularly as my country eats itself alive over brexit. I really recommend it.

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Emilymdxn
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I don‘t think this will be a fun listen, but I‘m feeling a lot of motivation about my project to learn more about how the world works, the environment and political systems (recommendations always welcome!). I expect to learn a lot from this book

BarbaraTheBibliophage I have this one, but haven‘t started. Curious to hear your take on it! 6y
alisiakae Your project sounds quite interesting. (So does this book!) What are you working on? 6y
Emilymdxn @4thhouseontheleft just a personal project to read more nonfiction! I had a bad experience being laughed at by a local politician who implied I was stupid, so I decided to become 10x as well read as him on every issue he has terrible views on! I‘ve replied to his letter and am planning to bother him weekly 6y
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Emilymdxn @BarbaraTheBibliophage thanks!! I‘ll post a review when I finish it. It‘s super interesting so far! 6y
alisiakae @Emilymdxn That‘s a fantastic approach! And I‘m sorry that happened to you. We had (he just lost in the US elections) a local politician who often talked down to young female constituents when they asked him questions. That patronizing superiority really irks me when I see it. 6y
Emilymdxn @4thhouseontheleft I feel you 😞😞 in the uk system once someone shitty gets in in a safe seat you kinda just have to wait for them to retire... this guys been the mp here for probably like 30 years and he‘s always been incompetent but he‘ll never get voted out 6y
alisiakae And if you are interested in inequality in America, esp in regards to our prison system, I highly recommend both 6y
Emilymdxn @4thhouseontheleft thanks!! I think my bf has copies of these which he read for his masters so I‘ll borrow them! 6y
alisiakae The local official I‘m thinking of who just lost, has been a county commissioner for 25 years and when he lost last week, he threw a fit, had someone pick up everything from his office, and said he won‘t step foot back in the government building , even though his term isn‘t officially up until Jan. 🙄 Good riddance, I say! He is very homophobic and racist. 6y
Emilymdxn @4thhouseontheleft I‘m so heartened that he got voted out!! My MP voted against equal marriage despite later coming out and publicly admitting he‘d been lying to his wife and children for 25 years because he wanted to use her to get ahead in the Conservative party. Then he kept voting against equal rights. 6y
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BacklistB__ch
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Beginning a study of Arendt...

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jcalyn5
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I got two new books today!

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Anna40

#5fordinner - who would you invite?

1 Irene Nemirovsky
2 Heda Margolius Kovaly
3 Dietrich Bonhoeffer
4 James Baldwin
5 Hannah Arendt

And many more! So hard to pick only 5. Thanks for the tag @jdtchicago

I would like to know who you would invite? @Izai.Amorim @Faibka @JulietteGF @chavalah @Jess7

Anna40 @Jess7 who would you invite? 7y
Izai.Amorim To my shame I haven‘t read much Hannah Arendt but it‘s been on my list for very long already. 7y
Anna40 @Izai.Amorim Eichmann in Jerusalem - the banality of evil and Elemente und Ursprünge totaler Herrschaft are the two I've read. Have a biography on her life but have only started never finished it. Fascinating woman!!! 7y
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Faibka Very interesting list! I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't recognize most and had to look them up. Will definitely investigate more. 7y
Anna40 @Faibka I have to admit that I have only read a book about Bonhoeffer and his work. I haven't read any of his theological writings. I was more interested in his life and resistance to the Nazi regime. Irene Nerimovsky's Suite Francaise is a book that touched me deeply. She is a wonderful writer. I also read David Golder but preferred Suite Francaise. Heda Margolius Kovaly is a writer I discovered recently. 7y
Faibka @Anna40 Great! I'll add them to my ever growing TBR 7y
Faibka @Anna40 reading more on Nemirovsky, so heartbreaking 7y
Anna40 @Faibka Yes! It is. ... it is. Let me know what you think about her work! See you next week - hope you can come! 7y
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JWHeyman
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MJSanty
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#JuneBookBugs #AllTheSingleLadies
I happen to have two dense tomes next to my bed written by single ladies. Combined they are 1,250 pages of 20th century philosophy.

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Baileythebookworm
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#Riotgrams day 6 - this feels like a pertinent read right about now

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BookishMarginalia
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Hannah Arendt sums up the prevailing mindset in a country on the path to totalitarianism: "Everything is possible and nothing is true." #ReadOutsideTheLines

slhbooks Yes, I hear it is all fake news and alternate facts! 😡😥 8y
Bloomingjen Just read a Charles Sykes opinion piece in NYT about this. Basically, the damage is done is what I got out of it. Cheers, y'all!! 8y
Hobbinol My spouse is currently reading this very same book from our Hannah shelf! 8y
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irregularreader
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http://wp.me/p7D1lG-Av I've made a #TBR for the #resistance! These are the books I'm planning to read over the next year or so! Feel free to add suggestions in the comments! #readtoresist

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azulaco
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I heard on NPR that this book is a hot commodity right now. It's selling out at US bookstores everywhere, and even Amazon is currently out of stock in paperback format. But! I snagged it for $1.99 on Kindle, and it's currently also $1.99 on iBooks, Nook, Google Play, and Kobo, for anyone interested.

BookishMarginalia Got it! Thanks! 8y
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Libby1
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BookishMarginalia It's a good one! 8y
Laalaleighh Omg. I never thought Hannah Arendt would be relevant in the US in my lifetime. 😭 8y
Libby1 It's odd to have to be looking at this kind of article, isn't it @BookishMarginalia and @Laalaleighh ? 8y
BookishMarginalia Yes, indeed it is. 8y
Laalaleighh @Libby1 @BookishMarginalia I studied this stuff in school so I could work in US foreign policy to help other countries. Now we basically don't have a state dept. and the country that needs help is ours. It's surreal. 8y
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BookishMarginalia
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I came upon this quote while reading a thoughtful and insightful article in The Wall Street Journal entitled "Trump: The Reader's Guide" https://www.google.com/amp/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/trump-the-readers-guide-1485... -- it recommends Mann's Magic Mountain and Canetti's Crowds and Power, among other great works.

Worldforreading This is an appreciated resource, thank you 8y
night_shift To read the whole story I have to sign so what? :( 8y
BookishMarginalia @UnidragonFrag oops! The link worked without signing in for me when I checked it before posting. Sorry about that. 8y
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night_shift It's ok. I'm just kind of bummed I can't read it now. It's asking me to subscribe for monies and month and nope lol 8y
saresmoore I love Hannah Arendt! 8y
BookishMarginalia @UnidragonFrag Email me at secretsantagoespostal at gmail and I'll send it to you. 8y
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AmandaL
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I was a political theory minor in college, and though I haven't wanted to read any of these in years, I couldn't part with them either. #augustofpages #bookphotochallenge

quirkyreader Yea, more older covers. 🐸🐙 8y
AmandaL @quirkyreader I probably should have tagged this post #tbt too. 8y
Kat.Kao These books are giving me high school debate flashbacks, haha 8y
AmandaL @Kat.Kao Sorry 😂 8y
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