WIST QuotationsApr 28

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

For the propaganda of totalitarian movements which precede and accompany totalitarian regimes is invariably as frank as it is mendacious, and would-be totalitarian rulers usually start their careers by boasting of their past crimes and carefully outlining their future ones. The Nazis were “convinced that evil-doing in our time has a morbid force of attraction,” Bolshevik assurances inside and outside Russia that they do not recognize ordinary moral standards have become a mainstay of Communist propaganda, and experience has proven time and again that the propaganda value of evil deeds and general contempt for moral standards is independent of mere self-interest, supposedly the most powerful psychological factor in politics.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/41493/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #amorality #attractiveness #boasting #bragging #brazenness #bullies #contempt #crime #evil #evildoers #immorality #moralstandards #morality #propaganda #seduction #seductiveness #shamelessness #totalitarianism

Arendt, Hannah - The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 "A Classless Society," sec. 1 (1951) | WIST Quotations

For the propaganda of totalitarian movements which precede and accompany totalitarian regimes is invariably as frank as it is mendacious, and would-be totalitarian rulers usually start their careers by boasting of their past crimes and carefully outlining their future ones. The Nazis were "convinced that evil-doing in our time has…

WIST Quotations
Quick QuotesApr 28

“You know I love you. You're the only one.'She isn't the first woman he's ever said that to. He shouldn't have used it up so much earlier in his life, he shouldn't have treated it like a tool, a wedge, a key to open women. By the time he got around to meaning it, the words sounded fraudulent to him and he'd been ashamed to pronounce them.”
― Margaret Atwood

#Bot #Quote #Amorality #Lies #Love #Manipulation

WIST QuotationsMar 31

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

The sad truth of the matter is that most evil is done by people who never made up their minds to be or do either evil or good.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Life of the Mind, Vol. 1 “Thinking,” Part 3, ch. 18 “The two-in-one” (1977)

More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/1350/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #amorality #apathy #banality #banalityofevil #decision #evil #good #indecision #lukewarm #moralchoice #moralcode #thoughtlessness #virtue #vice #evildoer #wrongdoing #rightandwrong #moralagency #responsiblity #takeresponsibility

WIST QuotationsJan 28

A quotation from Joseph Conrad

“No,” interrupted the doctor. “There is no peace and no rest in the development of material interests. They have their law, and their justice. But it is founded on expediency, and is inhuman; it is without rectitude, without the continuity and the force that can be found only in moral principle.”

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Polish-English novelist [b. Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski]
Nostromo, Part 3 “The Lighthouse,” ch. 10 (1904)

More about this quote: wist.info/conrad-joseph/81693/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephconrad #nostromo #amorality #bigbusiness #businessinterests #expediency #materialthings #money #property #wealth

Conrad, Joseph - Nostromo, Part 3 "The Lighthouse," ch. 10 (1904) | WIST Quotations

"No," interrupted the doctor. "There is no peace and no rest in the development of material interests. They have their law, and their justice. But it is founded on expediency, and is inhuman; it is without rectitude, without the continuity and the force that can be found only in moral…

WIST Quotations
ResearchBuzz: FirehoseJan 15

University of Southern California: Can we prevent AI from acting like a sociopath?. “Large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s ChatGPT sometimes suggest courses of action or spout rhetoric in conversation that many users would consider amoral or downright psychopathic. … Even more alarming, such behavior is frequently spontaneous. LLMs can suddenly take on sociopathic traits for no clear […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2026/01/14/university-of-southern-california-can-we-prevent-ai-from-acting-like-a-sociopath/
University of Southern California: Can we prevent AI from acting like a sociopath? | ResearchBuzz: Firehose

ResearchBuzz: Firehose | Individual posts from ResearchBuzz
Show threadNonilexJan 10

“I don’t need international law,” he added. “I’m not looking to hurt people.” [no one believes that]

When pressed further about whether his admin needed to abide by #InternationalLaw, #Trump said, “I do.” But he made clear he would be the only arbiter when such constraints applied to the #UnitedStates.

“It depends what your definition of international law is,” he said. [🤦🏼‍♀️]

#felon47 #law #indecency #degenerate #rapist #greed #sociopath #racist #WhiteSupremacy #misogyny #amorality

Show threadNonilexJan 10

#Trump declared Wednesday evening that his #power as commander in chief is constrained only by his “own morality,”brushing aside #InternationalLaw & other checks on his ability to use #military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world.
Asked in a wide-ranging interview if there were any limits on his #global powers, Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

#felon47 #law #rapist #greed #WhiteSupremacy #amorality

NonilexJan 10

Ummm…

#Trump Lays Out a Vision of #Power Restrained Only by ‘My Own Morality’

On topic after topic, Trump made clear that he would be the arbiter of any limits to his authorities, not #InternationalLaw or #treaties.

#felon47 #law #indecency #degenerate #idiot #rapist #greed #sociopath #racist #WhiteSupremacy #misogyny #amorality
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/us/politics/trump-interview-power-morality.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Trump Addresses Venezuela, Greenland and Presidential Power in New York Times Interview

On topic after topic, President Trump made clear that he would be the arbiter of any limits to his authorities, not international law or treaties.

The New York Times
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jan 9

"Nothing makes people lose trust in news organizations as much as when they’ve seen something with their own eyes -- and then see news coverage that doesn’t comport with what they themselves experienced.

Case in point: Legacy media coverage of the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent earlier this week."

~ Dan Froomkin

#ReneeGood #Trump #ICE #murder #MaskedThugs #media #FalseEquivalence #amorality #BothSidesism
/21

https://criticalread.substack.com/p/why-would-anyone-trust-a-news-organization

Why would anyone trust a news organization that treats obvious truths as debatable?

The ICE agent who killed Renee Nicole Good was the aggressor, not the victim. That’s not a hard one.

Press Watch
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jan 8

"A woman is dead, and he’s already on television sanding down the moral edges, redirecting consequence away from power, and trying to make 'wait for more facts' sound like a substitute for basic decency."

#ReneeGood #Trump #KristiNoem #ICE #DHS #murder #MaskedThugs #Minneapolis #ScottJennings #CNN #media #amorality #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalency
/18