“Things have almost reached rock bottom. A universal spiritual death has already touched us all, and physical death will soon flare up and consume us both and our children—but as before we still smile in a cowardly way and mumble with our tongues tied. But what can we do to stop it? We haven’t the strength? …
When violence intrudes into peaceful life, its face glows with self-confidence, as if it were carrying a banner and shouting: ‘I am violence. Run away, make way for me—I will crush you.’ But violence quickly grows old. And it has lost confidence in itself, and in order to maintain a respectable face it summons falsehood as its ally—since violence lays its ponderous paw not every day and not on every shoulder. It demands from us only obedience to lies and daily participation in lies—all loyalty lies in that.”
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One need only compare news articles from early 2020 to those being published today to see that our information sources are feeding us a steady diet of lies. Compare politician’s statement in the past with statements and actions of the very same politicians today and we see that our public servants operate within a culture of lies. Consider how large corporations mislead and do great harm, and when they are in danger of being caught, lie. Meanwhile we are so manipulated by hate and violence toward one another that we willingly acquiesce our freedoms and become little more than serf to the very purveyors of these lies. The Lords of lies have become our Lords and masters.
“And the simplest and most accessible key to our self-neglected liberation lies right here: Personal non-participation in lies. Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, but not with any help from me.
This opens a breach in the imaginary encirclement caused by our inaction. It is the easiest thing to do for us, but the most devastating for the lies. Because when people renounce lies it simply cuts short their existence. Like an infection, they can exist only in a living organism.”
Renouncing lies takes courage. Courage to question to explore, to discover, and then to stop participating in the lies.
“And if we get cold feet, even taking this step, then we are worthless and hopeless, and the scorn of Pushkin should be directed to us:
Why should cattle have the gifts of freedom?
Their heritage from generation to generation is the belled yoke and the lash.”
Quotations are from the essay ‘Live Not by Lies’ by Alexander Solzhenitsyn