Understanding The Man in the High Castle: How to Resist Ideology with Myth | Intercollegiate Review:
"The USSR consisted of a massive framework of interconnected groups and individuals that, by consciously or unconsciously acquiescing to the ideology, gave it power. Havel pointed to the greengrocer who quietly put a sign ‘Workers of the World, Unite!’ in his window every morning. It seemed like a small thing, but whether or not he meant it, his acquiescence empowered the state. The ideology of the regime was embedded into civil society to the degree than every individual who did not actively resist it, tacitly strengthened and became its instrument."
It's an interesting idea and not one I necessarily agree with yet. I need to think about it more because it has some serious implications. If true, it means that people like me can't just look at the decline of our nation, the utter destruction of the foundations of civilization, and the loss of a sense of the dignity of the human person and say I will just hunker down and wait it out. I get the sense that this Man in the High Castle notion is opposite of the Benedict Option, nurturing the flame of civilization and all that is good in our hearts while the barbarians rage outside.
I'm almost done with the first season of "Man in the High Castle", a very good Amazon Prime streaming series based on a Philip K. Dick novel that posits a look at 1962 if Nazi Germany and Japan had won World War II and divided the United States between them. It's not pretty, but it's a sobering look at fascism and is even pro-life and pro-faith, in its way, mostly by showing the consequences of anti-life and anti-faith ideologies taking over.
I’ve been working through this series as well (just finished episode 6). One thing that struck me is how the two fascist ideologies all but abolish religion. Sure, the Japanese have their religious practices, but it’s an eastern mysticism that doesn’t permit Judo-Christian practices. Selling a Bible in a bookstore isn’t illegal (technically), but the Bibles aren’t kept out in the open either. Likewise, the Jewish believers have to literally cover windows when they perform their rituals and prayers.
This is consistent with historical fascism. They know, consciously or subconsciously, that religious belief has the power to overthrow any authoritarian regime. Better to wipe the religion out than risk religious believers rebelling against the unjust government.
I guess I’m leaning more towards the need to not merely “hunker down”, but to speak up all the louder.
Very good first season of “Man in the High Castle“. It is a series that I recommend to everyone.