THE OIL STATE: In this book, Alexander Etkind states that Russia is the least equal, the most militarized and the most carbonized of all the world's major countries.
iDEOLOGY: By agreeing on a suitable 'enemy', a disintegrated society finds coherence, energy and meaning. A totalitarian propaganda has led to the conclusion that Ukraine will now be allowed to use F-16 jets against the nuclear power Russia – with the major consequences this may entail.
Social Media: While the public is a place where free individuals have the right, and perhaps also the duty, to participate in a free exchange of opinions, the social is more about herd and control. Are we now faced with a social control that does not invite disagreement and diversity, but only obedience or exclusion? The rise of the social can threaten both freedom and individuality. MODERN TIMES prints here an extract from Einar Øverenget's new book, Intoleransens intog.
ESSAY How can it be that some politicians can lie as much as they want, like President Trump, and at the same time be perceived as truthful by their constituents? We look at how the philosopher Hannah Arendt defined the difference between the traditional and the modern lie, as the difference between hiding and destroying. And how the truth can be faked because one can finger reality.
