How to Resist Totalitarianism & Propaganda
“Only the right name gives beings and things their reality. A wrong name makes everything unreal. That's what lies do.”
—Michael Ende, The Neverending Story
Hi. Welcome to the future. I bet you, like me, did not expect to arrive here so soon… I mean where we can see the world to be ever more clearly headed in the direction that it is (though, having studied historical patterns as a professional anthropologist, I had my suspicions). Well, bypassing the pleasantries of commenting on the current situation and our concerns for the not so distant future, let’s just get down to business – It is a known fact (though we often overlook it) that the one thing that can really make a difference in your life in a world gone awry – is you.
A Commitment… from the 1974 Underground
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
In the original 1974 underground publication titled “Live Not by Lies,” the great anti-totalitarian dissident Alexandre Solzhenitsyn prophetically stated:
We are approaching the brink; already a universal spiritual demise is upon us; a physical one is about to flare up and engulf us and our children, while we continue to smile sheepishly and babble: “But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength.”
Does this not ring all the more true in our day? He goes on to name the very problem that besets us today:
We have so hopelessly ceded our humanity that for the modest handouts of today we are ready to surrender up all principles, our soul, all the labors of our ancestors, all the prospects of our descendants—anything to avoid disrupting our meager existence.
We have lost our strength, our pride, our passion. We do not even fear a common nuclear death, do not fear a third world war (perhaps we’ll hide away in some crevice), but fear only to take a civic stance! We hope only not to stray from the herd, not to set out on our own, and risk suddenly having to make do without the comforts of a middle class life. . .
And so what can a person do to break the hold of lies in his or her life? What can you do to quit serving as an accomplice to the lies? Solzhenitsyn offers the following suggestions as starting points:
Will not write, sign, nor publish in any way, a single line distorting, so far as he can see, the truth;
Will not utter such a line in private or in public conversation, nor read it from a crib sheet, nor speak it in the role of educator, canvasser, teacher, actor;
Will not in painting, sculpture, photograph, technology, or music depict, support, or broadcast a single false thought, a single distortion of the truth as he discerns it;
Will not cite in writing or in speech a single “guiding” quote for gratification, insurance, for his success at work, unless he fully shares the cited thought and believes that it fits the context precisely;
Will not be forced to a demonstration or a rally if it runs counter to his desire and his will; will not take up and raise a banner or slogan in which he does not fully believe;
Will not raise a hand in vote for a proposal which he does not sincerely support; will not vote openly or in secret ballot for a candidate whom he deems dubious or unworthy;
Will not be impelled to a meeting where a forced and distorted discussion is expected to take place;
Will at once walk out from a session, meeting, lecture, play, or film as soon as he hears the speaker utter a lie, ideological drivel, or shameless propaganda;
Will not subscribe to, nor buy in retail, a newspaper or journal that distorts or hides the underlying facts.
(This is by no means an exhaustive list of the possible and necessary ways of evading lies. But he who begins to cleanse himself will, with a cleansed eye, easily discern yet other opportunities.)
Yes, at first it will not be fair. Someone will have to temporarily lose his job. For the young who seek to live by truth, this will at first severely complicate life, for their tests and quizzes, too, are stuffed with lies, and so choices will have to be made. But there is no loophole left for anyone who seeks to be honest: Not even for a day, not even in the safest technical occupations can he avoid even a single one of the listed choices—to be made in favor of either truth or lies, in favor of spiritual freedom or spiritual servility.
"But let them not live through me!"
But it will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point—from lies.
And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal non-participation 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!
Now, this is all well and good, but in order to have the strength to hold fast to the truth when push comes to shove (as for many it already has, and for the rest it will come sooner than we wish it), we need to be in the practice of rejecting lies and living in the truth throughout the course of our day-to-day lives.
So what do we do? We try and live in such a way as to not be pulled along downstream by the polemic and the propaganda and the official narratives and the crowd-think that threatens to annihilate any sense of sanity from our lives. And if you’re interested in a practical hands-on tool to help you do this, I recommend checking out the Live Not by Lies Journal: 365 Days of Interior Freedom, which is based on the practices of the great witnesses against totalitarianism of the last century (most especially on the though of Alexander Solzhenitsyn). This journal guides you each day through practical exercises to resist the lies and propaganda that daily encroach on our lives and threaten to blot out the truth about reality, human dignity, and our divine calling. Each day you will find the opportunity to write about your journey in seeking for, and living in, the truth. This journal will guide you through the opportunity to record the beauty of the truth you see in the world around you, to document the challenges you face each day in living for the sake of truth, and to identify and write down the truth each day so that it cannot be erased or forgotten.