“For violence has nothing to cover itself with but lies, and lies can only persist through violence. And it is not every day and not on every shoulder that violence brings down its heavy hand: It demands of us only a submission to lies, a daily participation in deceit—and this suffices as our fealty.
“And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!”
Good post.
Bkmrk
Great essay. And also “Live Not by Lies” is a great book from Rod Dreher - same topic, good read.
This is an excellent piece, now as in 1974. On the way home yesterday I listened for cheap thrills to NPR’s coverage of the January 6 MEGA INSURRECTION. Every bit of it was blatant propaganda. There is an entire segment of our population who live in a world of Orwelian inversion.
I see some differences between Solzhenitsyn’s time and milieu, and our own now: In the later Soviet period, very few BELIEVED the lies; spewing them was institutionalized as the way to get along, get published, get promoted — or at least not be persecuted. By contrast, a substantial part of our populace BELIEVES the horsecrap spun by the self-installed elite and leftist media. The other part of the population sees clearly that the elite and media are lying.
The elite and media DON’T CARE that we know. They are laughing in our faces, while hurrying to “replace” us, and extirpate the heritage of the USA.
“Live not by Lies” is an inspiring step, but we are in a phase where the Left is past needing or even wanting their lies to be believed. They use rejection of their claims and positions to marginalize non-believers as “Right Wing Extremists” and “Insurrectionaries”. To quote from that literary epic “Dallas”: “Nobody gives you Power Bobby. Power’s something you take”. Right now the Liars are doing the taking.
Solzhenitsyn was speaking to the exact same kind of people who currently rule Russia.
Great post. Thanks.
Solzhenitsyn equates “lies” with ideology, the illusion that human nature and society can be reshaped to predetermined specifications.It doesn't matter what kind of society they think they can create, is that they think that they can create a society by force that makes them evil.
The only use of force that can be justified in reshaping society is the force of your own example.
BKMK