In addition, the mark of a totalitarian ideology, according to Arendt, was its hermetic nature: it explained away the entire world, and no argument could pierce its bubble. But this did not make them true believers in the ideology, in the way Westerners might imagine it: the ideology served simply as a key to unity, as the collective's shared language. They would not be lying if they said that they wanted to be a part of the parade, or the collective in general - and that if they exerted pressure on others to be a part of the collective too, they did so willingly. The parades and various other forms of collective life gave them a sense of belonging that humans generally need. They did not feel like helpless victims, but they did not feel like fanatics either.

But on the inside, both assumptions were wrong, for all the people at the parade (or any other form of collective action) and for each one of them individually. Researchers generally assumed one or the other: either that people were passive victims or that they were fervent believers. “Looking from the outside in, one cannot see, for example, whether people attend a parade because they are forced to do so or because they so desire. The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia

One subsection was called “The Sexual Traits of the Jews.” It began with homosexuality: “Not only was homosexuality widespread among the ancient Jews but it was known to take over entire cities, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, for example.” The lieutenant told Masha that every soldier in his platoon had received a copy of this book.” It purported to “uncover the real crimes of the Jews,” who had taken over the world.

Then he told Masha that the truth was found in the book Blows from the Russian Gods, the screed that had been recommended to Masha once before. After a few minutes, he asked the journalist to turn off his camera. Masha tried to point out to him that getting information about the authorities from the authorities might not be wise. “The authorities do,” said the lieutenant. “Who controls the television?” This was the journalist with the video camera speaking.

“There,” said the lieutenant, and he nodded at the pavement for some reason. “Where do you get your information?” Masha asked what seemed at the moment a logical question.

The future is history masha