…Living with the lie can constitute the system only if it is universal. The principle must embrace and permeate everything. There are no terms whatsoever on which it can coexist with living within the truth, and therefore everyone who steps out of line denies it in principle and threatens it in its entirety.
This is understandable: as long
as appearance is not confronted with reality, it does not seem to be
appearance. As long as living a lie is not confronted with living the truth,
the perspective needed to expose its mendacity is lacking. As soon as the
alternative appears, however, it threatens the very existence of appearance and
living a lie in terms of what they are, both their essence and their
all-inclusiveness. And at the same time, it is utterly unimportant how large a
space this alternative occupies: its power does not consist in its physical
attributes but in the light it casts on those pillars of the system and on its
unstable foundations…
In the post-totalitarian system,
therefore, living within the truth has more than a mere existential dimension
(returning humanity to its inherent nature or a noetic dimension, revealing
reality as it is), or a moral dimension (setting an example for others). It
also has an unambiguous political dimension. If the main pillar of the system
is living a lie, then it is not surprising that the fundamental threat to it is
living the truth. This is why it must be suppressed more severely than anything
else.
Havel, Vaclav (1986) The Power of
the Powerless. In “Living with Truth.”
London and Boston: Faber and faber. p.56-57.
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