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Temptations of Tyranny
Rod Dreher’s conflicted support for President Trump illustrates a broader crisis among intellectual conservatives who fear the "soft totalitarianism" of liberal institutions yet embrace the hard authoritarianism of executive overreach. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s political thought, the essay contends that true freedom is preserved not through charismatic leaders but through the multiplication and decentralization of citizen power. Revitalizing democracy, it argues, requires stubborn, local acts of collective governance rather than the dangerous temptation to concentrate authority in a single figure.04-27-2025
Articles
The Courage to Be: Uday Mehta
Zelda May Bas, a student fellow with the Hannah Arendt Center, recounts our second "Courage to Be" dinner, during which Uday Mehta spoke on Gandhi.04-23-2015
Albert Einstein's Thoughts on Thinking: Reading and Laziness
Albert Einstein reflects how too much reading and not enough thinking can beget laziness in this week's Thoughts on Thinking.04-22-2015
Amor Mundi 4/19/15
In this week's Amor Mundi, we appeal to the banality of evil in acknowledging Holocaust Memorial Day, meditate on the importance of privacy, and much more!04-20-2015
Hannah Arendt Collection: The Prophet Armed
We visit the Hannah Arendt Collection and appreciate the annotations Arendt made to her copy of a biography written about Leon Trotsky.04-17-2015
Hegel's Thoughts on Thinking: Generalization and Ideas
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel reflects on the connection between ideas and generalization in this week's Thoughts on Thinking.04-15-2015
Amor Mundi 4/12/15
In this week's Amor Mundi, we reflect on the works of Toni Morrison and Claudia Rankine, identify trauma as a powerful corollary of feminism, and much more!04-13-2015
Hannah Arendt Collection: Arendt a "Who's Who"
In this week's Library feature, we reflect on how Hannah Arendt was a "who's who" in 1974-5--just one year prior to her death at the age of 69.04-10-2015
Emerson's Thoughts on Thinking: The Blossom of Thought
American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on the budding form of thought in this week's Thoughts on Thinking.04-08-2015
Amor Mundi 4/5/15
In this week's Amor Mundi, we meditate on Arendt's support for the right of social discrimination, reflect on the meaning of hate, and much more!04-06-2015