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Kamala Harris launches into the 2026 midterms as her 2028 decision looms
As Kamala Harris mulls whether to run for president again, she’s throwing herself into the midterms by campaigning with fellow Democrats, starting with a Tuesday trip to Michigan on behalf of Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. It’s an especially notable destination for the former vice president. Michigan was one of seven battlegrounds she lost to Donald […]
Vikes Views: Sunday King
The Minnesota Vikings visited the Chicago Bears and the result was the same as it has been for quite a while now: a Vikings victory. Minnesota has now won seven consecutive games at Soldier Field, a stadium that used to be a house of horrors for Vikings fans. The offense never really found its rhythm, […]
Environmental science takes an average of seven years to influence international policy, study finds
A new study led by the University of Alicante (UA) and the Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies (CEAM) analyzes the barriers separating scientific knowledge from environmental policy and its ...
The Weeknd Debuts New Song With Yoko Takahashi
The two-night run at Belluna Dome marked the first Asian leg of the Weeknd’s record-breaking stadium tour and his first return to Japan in seven years.
'We have an abundance of fight, spirit and determination'
Hull City captain Lewie Coyle says he was "very proud" of the group's "never say die attitude" after conceding two early goals at St James' Park. Newcastle United, who were 2-0 up within seven minutes of kick-off, ended the Tigers' unbeaten start to the Premier League season, despite Mohamed-Ali Cho pulling a goal back in the 67th minute. "It is a tough result to take, especially when you look at the amount of chances we had at the end," Coyle told BBC Radio Humberside.
Planetary Health Check 2026 finds mounting pressures across Earth's life support systems
Seven breached Planetary Boundaries continue to worsen as record ocean heat, droughts, floods, wildfires and extreme heat reveal an Earth system under strain, according to the latest Planetary Health ...
Environmental Science Takes an Average of Seven Years to Influence International Policy, Study Finds
A study led by the University of Alicante (UA) and the Mediterranean Centre for Environmental Studies (CEAM) analyses the barriers separating scientific knowledge from environmental policy and its effective implementation.
Perfect posture? MoMA exhibition explores perspectives on body politics in public spaces
Seven contemporary artists respond to Marianne Wex’s groundbreaking 1970s feminist work on body language in the New York show
Nothing to report about contract
The 35-year-old's deal expires at the end of this season and it remains to be seen whether the centre-back, who joined Liverpool from Southampton in January 2018, will be offered an extension or he will choose to move on. Van Dijk has played every minute of Liverpool's Premier League campaign so farand said his side have "not had a bad start" under new boss Andoni Iraola. The Reds are unbeaten in seven games this season and go into the international break sixth in the table after two wins and three draws in the league.
Here are seven candidates for song of the summer
These are seven songs that could be song of the summer for 2026. Candidates include artists like Karol G, Olivia Rodrigo and Ella Langley.
One Week Remaining: Where the Postseason Race Stands
We are almost there, 155-156 games in the history books, "six-seven" to go in the marathon that is the Major League Baseball Season. But plenty is still up for grabs in the MLB postseason race. All three National League divisions are officially clinched by the 98-58 Milwaukee Brewers, 96-60 Los Angeles Dodgers, and the 92-64 …
England latest: Cole Palmer withdraws from Thomas Tuchel's squad ahead of long international break
Cole Palmer was recalled to Thomas Tuchels squad after being snubbed for the 2026 World Cup; Palmer has scored four goals in seven games this season for Chelsea; Palmer had previously stated he felt back to his best after an injury-hit 2025-26 campaign
'The mentality in the dressing room is really good'
Newcastle defender Lewis Hall has said the Magpies are "happy with the three points" from Saturday's 2-1 win over Hull City but added that his side "got a bit sloppy". Hall put the hosts 2-0 ahead after just seven minutes but the Tigers came back into the match after that. "We let them get back into the game, which we need to look at," Hall told BBC Radio Newcastle.
Allegri off to Napoli’s worst start in over ten years
Massimiliano Allegri’s Napoli have only earned seven points in the opening five Serie A matches, marking the Partenopei’s worst start to a season since 2015-16.Fair to say that Allegri’s Napoli ...
Tre Tucker hits triple digits with TD
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker racked up five receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown on seven targets in Week 2
Ashton Jeanty totals 63 scrimmage yards
Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty ran 21 times for just 48 yards in Week 2, while adding four receptions for 15 yards on seven targets.
1976 Rock Song, Lasting Over 7 Minutes, Is Still a Beloved Hit 50 Years Later
The Eagles' "The Last Resort" runs over seven minutes, but its powerful message still resonates 50 years later.
Roanoke church hosts free community health fair
The Melrose Avenue Seventh-Day Adventist Church hosted a free community health fair. Neighbors connected with local resources and picked up free food and clothes.
Braves clinch division title as Red Sox reach MLB playoffs
Mike Yastrzemski smacked a game-winning three-run homer to lead Atlanta over Houston 4-2 on Sunday as the Braves clinched their seventh Major League Baseball division title in nine seasons.
Luther Burden III targeted seven times
Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III was targeted a game-high seven times in Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings
Young voters are ‘SICK AND TIRED’ of Trump: Gen-Z political commentator unpacks the youth vote
There’s less than seven weeks until the midterm elections are here. And President Trump seems to be struggling to convince voters that he's improved their lives and delivered on his promises. Co-Founder & President of Run for Something Amanda Litman, founder of Ahmed Baba News on Substack and Independent Journalist Ahmed Baba, Gen-Z Political Commentator and Founder of Mockler Media Adam Mockler and Senior Executive Editor of Bloomberg Opinion and MS NOW Political Analyst Timothy O'Brien join Antonia Hylton to discuss.
Ebola outbreak update: Cases and deaths; Dungu health zone, Haut-Uélé province now affected
A total of 73 new confirmed cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) were reported on September 18, 2026, including 25 community deaths. Of these confirmed cases, 46 were from Ituri province, 18 from North Kivu, 6 from Haut-Uélé, and 3 from Tshopo. A new health zone, Dungu, in Haut-Uélé province, was affected during the day. As this zone borders South Sudan, strengthening cross-border surveillance is necessary. During the day on September 18, 2026, 12 deaths within Ebola Treatment Centers (ETCs)—10 in Ituri and 2 in North Kivu—were unfortunately recorded, bringing the total number of deaths for the day to 37. However, 41 patients were declared recovered (30 in Ituri, 6 in Haut-Uélé, 3 in North Kivu, and 2 in Tshopo) after testing negative for EVD twice. Since the start of the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a cumulative total of 7,614 confirmed cases, including 3,676 deaths, has been recorded, representing a case fatality rate of 48.3%. The epicenter remains Ituri province, which accounts for 77.2% of the confirmed cases reported across the seven affected provinces and also accounts for 63.0% of the new confirmed cases. A new health zone was affected on September 18, 2026. Consequently, 63 out of 167 health zones (37.7%) across 7 provinces are affected. Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube Response measures feature 97% traveler screening at entry points, surveillance expansion to new area Dungu, and community outreach sensitizing over 110,000 people in one day. The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s health system faces deep, structural constraints that predate the current Ebola outbreak and make epidemic response far harder. These problems are most acute in rural areas and the conflict-affected east. Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Eastern provinces have seen health facilities damaged, looted, or abandoned. Insecurity delays patients, blocks supply deliveries, and exposes staff to attacks. Millions of displaced people live in camps with poor water, sanitation, and health services, increasing outbreak risk. Vast distances and poor roads mean many people walk hours or days to reach care. These same weaknesses explain why Ebola has continued to spread into new, under-prepared health zones even as some original hotspots show improvement: surveillance, laboratory turnaround, contact tracing, and infection control remain thin outside the best-supported sites. The Ministry of Health and partners have scaled up treatment centres, laboratories, and vaccination in the current outbreak, and some digital surveillance systems (DHIS2) provide a useful backbone. However, the underlying gaps in staffing, basic infrastructure, reliable funding, and logistics have not been closed. Without sustained investment in those foundations, the system will remain vulnerable to both routine disease burden and the next large outbreak. If you like the reporting on Outbreak News Today, please consider a paid subscription for $5/month or $30 a year. Help support the cause of this niche journalism. It is appreciated.
Week 2 inactives for Broncos
Broncos declare seven players inactive for Week 2 including RJ Harvey
7 Jaguars inactive for Week 2 game vs. Broncos
The Jacksonville Jaguars will have seven players inactive for their Week 2 matchup with the Denver Broncos.
Why politicians should pay more attention to the polls (reprise)
Welcome to the 231st edition of The Week in Polls (TWIP), a polling newsletter that always welcomes new readers. So please don’t keep TWIP a secret; share it with your friends and colleagues: Share The Week in Polls With all the stories swirling around Reform, JL Partners and political polling, I am finally tearing myself away from talking about the regulation of polling this week - and instead re-running a previous piece reminding us why the solution to problems with polls isn’t simply to ban or ignore them. Rather, we need them to play a vital role in making our politics - and politicians - better. This is followed by summaries of the latest national voting intention polls, seat projections from MRPs and the most recent party leader ratings. Subscribers who pay for the full edition can also read ten insights from the latest polls and analyses, including: A trio of organisations and a pair of professors have been casting their eyes over the Liberal Democrats ahead of the party’s autumn conference; What impact did the summer heatwave have on views on climate change? and Which wins out between chocolate and cheese? If you are not yet a paid subscriber, you can read all ten by starting a free trial now: Get FREE 7-day trial For more polling news as it comes in ahead of next week’s edition, you can also follow The Week in Polls on Bluesky. Picking up on my doubt last week about whether or not 35% of British train travellers have tried to order a takeaway for delivery to a railway station or carriage, thank you to reader Iain, who has been in touch to say he has done just that… in India. Another quick pair of updates, this time on the controversies around Reform and polling. Politico has a further scoop - “Farage aide caught in donor sting attended Egypt retreat with JL Partners” - and Ian Dunt has written about the problems with polling too: “Seeing the response of many polling experts in the last few weeks suggests that they are nervous about what is happening and keen to mitigate against it. Seeing the response of journalists, which has been basically non-existent, suggests the precise opposite.” My usual reminder as well: please do hit reply if you’ve spotted a poll, focus group or new piece of poll-based research that you think should be in contention for coverage in a future edition. Thank you! And with that, on with the show. How politicians get public opinion wrong I have written before about the benefits that come from widespread availability of high-quality political polling. We need more polls and more good coverage of polls. However, what I’ve not dug into before is the research into how accurately politicians estimate public opinion on issues. Thankfully we have academic research to tell us. First, the bad news: We present results from a study of 866 politicians in four countries.1 Politicians were asked to estimate the percentage of public support for various policy proposals. Comparing more than 10,000 estimations with actual levels of public support, we conclude that politicians are quite inaccurate estimators of people’s preferences. They make large errors and even regularly misperceive what a majority of the voters wants. Politicians are hardly better at estimating public preferences than ordinary citizens. Walgrave, S., Jansen, A., Sevenans, J., Soontjens, K., Pilet, J.B., Brack, N., Varone, F., Helfer, L., Vliegenthart, R., van der Meer, T., Breunig, C., Bailer, S., Sheffer, L. & Loewen, P.J. (2023a), “Inaccurate Politicians: Elected Representatives’ Estimations of Public Opinion in Four Countries”, The Journal of Politics, 85(1): 209-222. The bad news is not quite as bad as that makes it sound because, when asked whether the majority of public opinion was for or against various policies, politicians picked the wrong option ‘only’ 29% of the time. However, this included getting it wrong even when public opinion is far from evenly split on an issue: They do not only get it wrong when the public is divided and hard to read (e.g., when there is a 51%:49% distribution). Seventy percent of the misplacements occur for policies with a relatively clear distribution of at least 60% (dis)agreeing citizens. Moreover, the public scored only slightly worse than politicians, picking the wrong option 2.7 out of 8 times on average, compared with 2.3 times for politicians. Turning to the other measure of accuracy (not which side is in the lead but what the percentage support is for each side), politicians on average were 18 percentage points out in their guesses. Again, this was only slightly better than the public, whose error came in at 21 percentage points.2 Further research, using the same mix of countries, gives a little more comfort about how (in)accurate perceptions are: We show that politicians have a better understanding of public opinion when they think the issue matters to voters. Further, when an issue is personally important to politicians they more accurately estimate their party supporters’ opinions. The results confirm that politicians hold more accurate perceptions of voters’ preferences when they think it is important to do so but not necessarily when the issues actually are important to voters. Butler, C., Walgrave, S., Soontjens, K. & Loewen, P.J. (2024), “Politicians are better at estimating public opinion when they think it is more salient”, Party Politics: 1–13. Even so, it’s not a good picture. The remedy for this? Politicians should spend more time reading the polls. So forward this newsletter to someone you know… Share For a more general argument against banning polls, see my 2024 piece. Is “Let Bartlet Be Bartlet” good advice or not? The latest episode of my Political Fictions podcast heads across the Atlantic for a dip into one of the political TV classics: Mark and Cory talk about a giant of American political drama for the first time this week, as they tackle The West Wing. They talk about Let Bartlet Be Bartlet, the nineteenth episode of series one. In it, Mark wonders if The West Wing is actually the epitome of the “Boris Johnson school of politics”, Cory outmanoeuvres Mark into confirming we will record a Christmas Special about Love, Actually and they debate whether the central message of this episode has been misunderstood. Cory’s email newsletter is Paperback Rioter and Mark has a family of email newsletters. Subscribe to our newsletter for some additional bonus content and to get alerted whenever a new episode comes out. Our theme tune is “Monkeys Spinning Monkeys” by Kevin MacLeod/incompetech.com and licensed under the Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License. You can also listen to our episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the web or YouTube. Elsewhere from me… [ A Lord's Eye View How to fix the problem of money in our politics Welcome to my latest update on work in the House of Lords. This time I am taking a look at how our political system is regulated, and the protections we need to keep democracy safe from becoming simply a contest to see who has the biggest bank account… Read more 5 days ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Mark Pack ](https://lordseyeview.substack.com/p/how-to-fix-the-problem-of-money-in?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&embedding_publication_id=1269283) If you spot a factual error… Borrowing an idea from Stuart Ritchie and others, if you spot a factual error in an edition of this newsletter, I will give you a free 12-month subscription to the paid-for version (or an extra 12 months on your existing one). Factual errors qualify, but grammatical errors or disagreements over interpretation do not, and my decision is final. Messages about both of those are always welcome, though. Voting intention and leadership ratings Here are the latest voting intention polls from different pollsters. It is all pretty static at the moment, with a small and consistent Labour lead in nearly all the polls. The table is also online here, along with explanations about what is included. It is updated regularly throughout the week as new polls are released. Next are the seat projections from MRPs, also sorted by fieldwork dates, listing those which are based on dedicated fieldwork (rather than models based on averages of other polls). Because such MRPs are published infrequently, some of the entries below are quite old. Finally, here is a summary of leadership ratings, with a graph from PollCheck: Detailed numbers from the latest polls are online here, and both that and the graph are updated regularly throughout the week as new data comes out. For historical figures on both voting intention and leader approval stretching back to the 1930s, including Parliamentary by-election polls, see PollBase. Catch up on the previous two editions [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ A crisis point for political polling Sep 13 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/a-crisis-point-for-political-polling) [ ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Extra questions about the polls in Reform’s funding scandal Sep 6 ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) [ Read full story ](https://theweekinpolls.substack.com/p/extra-questions-about-the-polls-in) My privacy policy and other legal information are available here. Links to purchase books or other items are usually affiliate links which pay a commission for each sale. Quotes from social media messages are occasionally lightly edited for punctuation and clarity. If you are subscribed to other email lists of mine, please note that unsubscribing from this one will not automatically remove you from the others. If you wish to be removed from all my lists, simply reply to this email to let me know. A quintet of Lib Dem polling analyses, and 9 other polling insights you shouldn’t miss The following ten findings from the most recent polls and analyses are only for subscribers who pay for the full edition, but you can sign up for a free trial to read them straight away. Ahead of the start of Liberal Democrat conference, we have a trio of organisations and a pair of professors with pieces out about Ed Davey’s party:
7 Sports Cars That Are More Practical Than The Mazda MX-5 Miata
The Mazda MX-5 Miata, for all its capability isn't always the most practical choice for interior space. However, these seven options retain the sports car feel.
Week 2 inactives for Panthers
Panthers declare seven players inactive for their Week 2 game
Legendary Phoenix Suns Coach Names Shawn Marion for Major Honor
Mike D’Antoni insists the "seven seconds or less" era's success demands Shawn Marion’s Hall of Fame induction, cementing the versatile forward's legacy as a defensive powerhouse.
Fiorentina frustrate Napoli with Serie A draw, Como upset
Fiorentina maintained their unbeaten run under coach Paolo Vanoli with a 1-1 draw against Napoli on Sunday, before Frosinone pulled off one of the shocks of the Serie A season by beating high-flying Como.La Viola showed improvement under Vanoli by beating Venezia in Serie A and Pisa in the Coppa Italia in his first two games, and the upturn in form continued as they fought back to claim a draw that moved them onto four points, with Napoli on seven -– six from the summit.
German state elections on track for high turnout with Merz's future on the line
Seven percentage-points higher turnout in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, four points in Berlin
🗞️ Front pages: King Raphinha reigns on derby Sunday
Sunday’s front pages are split between an immeasurable Brazilian and an elite derby.Raphinha scored a hat-trick in Seville, taking his tally to twelve goals in seven matchdays, and Barça head into ...
Phillies reportedly option Orion Kerkering amid rough stretch
Kerkering owns a 15.43 ERA over his last seven outings as the Phillies search for answers in the bullpen.
Nonprofit transforms bookstore into charity closet to raise money for mental health awareness
Seven Stories Bookstore in Shawnee was transformed into a charity closet for the day Saturday, with customers shopping racks of donated clothing to raise money for mental health awareness.
Yankees Send Aaron Judge Back to the Injured List
The New York Yankees will once again be without their captain and reigning American League MVP, Aaron Judge. The team announced on Saturday morning that the 34-year-old will hit the 10-day injured list (retroactive to September 17th) due to a right calf strain. Judge only appeared in seven games after returning from a fractured rib …
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans are battling the same exhausting health problem, CDC reveals
More than seven in 10 U.S. adults experienced fatigue during a three-month period, according to a 2024 CDC survey of roughly 27,000 people. T
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans are battling the same exhausting health problem, CDC reveals
More than seven in 10 U.S. adults experienced fatigue during a three-month period, according to a 2024 CDC survey of roughly 27,000 people. T
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans are battling the same exhausting health problem, CDC reveals
More than seven in 10 U.S. adults experienced fatigue during a three-month period, according to a 2024 CDC survey of roughly 27,000 people. T
Nearly 3 in 4 Americans are battling the same exhausting health problem, CDC reveals
More than seven in 10 U.S. adults experienced fatigue during a three-month period, according to a 2024 CDC survey of roughly 27,000 people. T
Gamethread: Boston College Football vs Maine
The Boston College football team won their first game of the 2026 season last week in a messy game against Rutgers that included seven total turnovers. BC will look to get back to basics against Maine on Saturday, an FCS opponent that they are expected to defeat easily. Who: Boston College Eagles (1-1) vs Maine […]
Analysis: O'Neil can be encouraged at team's display
Ipswich scored last-minute goals in their wins over Sunderland and Crystal Palace and their fans would have had hopes of more late drama when seven minutes were added on at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Town had sent on Zian Flemming, who scored their winner against Palace, but the 10 men could not score, with Flemming wasting a good chance in injury time when he fired over the top. Centre-half Issa Diop almost snatched a point right at the end, only for his effort to be charged down by a combination of Branthwaite and Garner.
Analysis: Moyes' Toffees moving in right direction
Manager David Moyes will be delighted at the start his Everton side have made to the campaign. The Toffees won none of their final seven games as they finished 13th last season and missed out on the European qualification that at one stage had been within their grasp. Everton also suffered a tough end to the transfer window, with key attacking midfielder Iliman Ndiaye going to Manchester City in a £65m deal and striker Beto, their top scorer last season, leaving for Fiorentina for £14.6m.
Harvey Barnes makes Newcastle history with quickfire assists ⚡️
Newcastle have jumped out to a lightning-fast start against Hull City on Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes.And while he isn't on the scoresheet, you have to give credit to Newcastle win...
5 Must-See Things at George Lucas's New Museum of Narrative Art as It Opens to the Public
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Star Wars” creator George Lucas called his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art a “temple to the people's art” and a project that “almost broke my will.” Seventeen years after it was first envisioned, it will be opening to the public on Tuesday in Los Angeles. The $1 billion institution ...
Jersey's Democracy Week includes chance to meet new politicians
Jersey's Democracy Week is being held for the seventh time.
Jacob Render heads to Darlington on loan
Leeds United can confirm Academy forward Jacob Render has joined Enterprise National League North side Darlington on a short-term youth loan.The versatile attacker has made seven appearances for Scott...
Twins 3, Angels 0: Prielipp pitches a gem
Seven innings and only two hits for the 25-year-old (not the guy in this photo).
Frankie Muniz says he's living a 'nightmare' in wake of divorce
Frankie Muniz says he's living a nightmare he wants to wake up from following the announcement of his split from wife Paige Price. In July, the two announced they were ending their marriage after seven years.
Piccalilli conference blends creativity and business
PARKERSBURG — Artists explored the business of art while making time to create Friday during the fifth Piccalilli Arts Conference at the Parkersburg Art Center. Seventy people registered for the conference, which offered nine workshop options along with lunchtime activities, breakfast and a catered lunch, said Jessie Siefert, the art center’s managing director and education […]
Izzo Lands Five-Star Point Guard Antonio Pemberton
Five-star point guard Antonio Pemberton committed to Michigan State on Friday, picking Izzo over seven other finalists. #GoGreen
Big Seven Roundtable connects Lima business leaders with state officials
State officials made their way to Lima today as part of the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce’s Big Seven Roundtable.
Brentford 3-0 Chelsea: What Andrews and Schuster said
Brentford have played seven Premier League games on a Friday and won six of them, conceding just one goal in the process. Brentford have won three of their last four London derbies in the Premier League, as many as their previous 21 beforehand.
Cheers Bar and Grill announces sale to new ‘woman-owned business owner’
“Over seven years, people met their best friends here, had first dates here, fell in love here, celebrated here, broke up here, sang terribly here, and occasionally made decisions that required legal representation,” Steve Mihaljevic said.
Big Seven Roundtable connects Lima business leaders with state officials
State agency directors and representatives met with Lima-area business leaders during the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce's Big Seven Roundtable. The event focused on sharing information and resources to support Ohio's business community.
Last call for former Cheers owner
After seven wild, crazy, entertaining, exhausting and unforgettable years, Cheers Bar & Grill is officially changing hands,. according to the current owner.Chee
Cincinnati Reds' Brady Singer Gets Honest About Recent Struggles
The right-hander was charged with the loss on Thursday after giving up nine hits and seven earned runs in only 3.1 innings pitched.
Rays Roundtable: Yankees Showdown, Playoff Rotation and October Concerns
The Tampa Bay Rays enter their final seven AL East games with a five-game lead over the Yankees. Our Rays Roundtable discusses the pivotal series in New York, Kevin Cash's postseason rotation, bullpen concerns and what Tampa Bay needs to do before the MLB playoffs.
Zelenskyy welcomes leaders from 7 countries for a regional summit
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted leaders and representatives from seven regional countries for talks on deepening cooperation on Friday, as overnight Russian strikes in multiple regions sparked fires and caused several deaths and injuries. The inaugural summit of the so-called “Carpathian Eight” brings together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech […]
‘Jersey Shore’ Star Closes the Door on Seven-Month Health Nightmare
Nicole Polizzi shared a major health update seven months after receiving a stage 1 cervical cancer diagnosis, saying doctors found no evidence of disease following her hysterectomy. The Jersey Shore s...
Mirza wants to take Plymouth Parkway into EFL
Kuwaiti businessman Muizz Mirza says he wants to lead seventh-tier Plymouth Parkway into the English Football League.
Matias
Seven years in purgatory. The two-legged tie against Schalke 04 in the 2011 Champions League quarter-finals was memorable. The match was remembered for Stankovic’s goal from the halfway line, but al...
Life Sciences Building Debuts Despite Donor Controversy
Seven years after its conception, the Casper Life Sciences Building had its official debut on Tuesday, Sept. 8, giving students access to 197,300 square feet of labs, classrooms, and study spaces on a $250 million budget. The building will replace Hall-Atwater, previous home to biology and chemistry labs, which is set to be demolished in […]
Costume exhibition celebrates 50 years of city's 'spaceship-like' theatre
To mark the anniversary of the seven-sided theatre constructed from tubular steel, some archive costumes go on display.
As steady as it gets, Aaron Nola's resurgence rolls on against Mets
Nola, being counted on more down the stretch, threw seven scoreless innings as the Phillies lowered their magic number to five.
Wahalla officials give latest update fire destroyed seven downtown businesses
The journey may be long after flames destroyed seven businesses at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17. It happened on East Main Street in downtown Walhalla and the area has been closed all day.
Padres Ride Seven-Run Second Inning to Drop Rockies
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Tanner Gordon was not able to tamp down a San Diego Padres offensive onslaught.
Alexandra Daddario stuns in gingham bikini months after split from husband Andrew Form
Alexandra Daddario shared stunning gingham bikini vacation photos on Instagram just seven months after confirming her split from Andrew Form.
Groundbreaking held for $700 million AWSOM Whole Health Campus
It’s been seven years in the making, but the effort to bring specialty health care to Northwest Arkansas is one step closer to reality. Alice Walton was front and center...
Groundbreaking held for $700 million AWSOM Whole Health Campus
It’s been seven years in the making, but the effort to bring specialty health care to Northwest Arkansas is one step closer to reality. Alice Walton was front and center...
See where Durham’s red wolf pups and parents are heading in conservation swap
The Museum of Life and Science says they will get a new breeding pair in the exchange for seven.
Three-Star Class of 2028 Center Announces Northwestern Hoops Offer
Chris Collins' program has extended an offer to a seven-footer with upside potential.
Burna Boy to headline NFL halftime show in Paris
Burna Boy for 'Global Citizen Live.' (ABC)Burna Boy will take the stage at the NFL's debut in France.The Nigerian Afro-fusion singer was named as the headline performer for the NFL's Paris Game on Oct. 25 at Stade de France, in an exclusive announcement on Good Morning America Thursday morning.The NFL Paris Game will be the first NFL game played in France, and one of a record nine international games played this season.The Paris Game, played between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints, is one of seven international games that will feature a halftime show this season.Burna Boy, a native of Nigeria and the artist behind songs such as "Last Last" and "Love," shared a statement on the event in a release from the NFL regarding the show."The NFL is bringing something to France that has never happened here before, and I get to stand in the middle of it representing African music and I intend to give the people a show they will not forget," he stated.Tim Tubito, senior director of global game presentation, music and entertainment at the NFL, said in a statement, "Paris is one of the great cultural capitals of the world, and African music sits right at the heart of what the city listens to."The Jonas Brothers, Pedro Sampaio and Ricky Martin, Ayra Starr, Cage The Elephant and The Warning have already been announced as international game performers at NFL games this season, according to the release.Rio de Janeiro and Paris will both see NFL games for the first time this year, while London, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City will return as hosts this season. Melbourne also hosted their first NFL game earlier this season.The Paris Game will air Sunday, Oct. 25, at 9:30 a.m. ET on the NFL Network.Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Visiting Linz - time to get back on track?
Two series to end in Women's BundesligaIt's time for matchday seven in the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga! Our girls faces a challenge this Saturday at 14:00 CEST against LASK, a team sitting next to them...
Rangers reach .500 again and tie for AL West lead with 7-3 victory over Red Sox
Brandon Nimmo hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning before Ezequiel Duran added a two-run single, and the surging Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 to pull even with Houston atop the AL West.
Bills’ Highmark Stadium Debut Begins Boom in New NFL Venues
Seven new NFL stadiums are set to open over the next half decade.
Museum of Life and Science red wolf family to move in October
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCT) — Seven endangered Red Wolves are relocating. The Museum of Life and Science announced that their family of red wolves will be relocating from North Carolina to the Wolf C…
Boma Bango, Carson Lewis, Three Thirty Seven and more live music in the Acadiana area this week
Looking for live music?
Kent beat Lancashire to boost promotion hopes
Kent remain firmly in the County Championship Division Two promotion race after they beat Lancashire by seven wickets at Canterbury.
The Athletic reveals Texas A&M's exorbitant 2026 roster spending
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Truth and Politics in the Age of Post-Truth
Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber, or make a donation, to support our work. Subscribe This is an excerpt from Global Politics in a Post-Truth Era. You can download the book free of charge from E-International Relations. The term post-truth is by now so ubiquitous in describing the state of politics in the Western world and even beyond that the most pressing issue of the day appears to be about making democracy work in the era of post-truth rather than questioning the normalisation of the term itself in the first place. The critical turning point appeared to have occurred in 2016 when the term was chosen by the Oxford English Dictionary as ‘The Word of the Year.’ On its website, the Dictionary notes the transformation of post-truth from ‘being a peripheral term to being a mainstay in political commentary and connects ‘the spike in frequency’ directly with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the election of Donald J. Trump in the United States – both occurring in 2016. Paired with the noun ‘politics,’ post-truth is defined as an adjective ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’ The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the term to a 1992 essay in The Nation by the playwright Steve Tesich as he reflected on the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal and the 1990–91 Gulf War: We are rapidly becoming prototypes of a people that totalitarian monsters could only drool about in their dreams. All the dictators up to now have had to work hard at suppressing the truth. We, by our actions, are saying that this is no longer necessary, that we have acquired a spiritual mechanism that can denude truth of any significance. In a very fundamental way we, as a free people, have freely decided that we want to live in some post-truth world (Tesich 1992, 13; emphasis added). He then continued, The Gulf War is over but the war at home goes on. The gulf between rich and destitute widens – between those of us who live in a modern post-industrial nation and those of us who live in the Third World countries of our inner cities. The present administration’s response to this internal crisis has shifted from benign to malignant neglect. The current levels of misery and decomposition of our cities and the economic gulags of our ghettos are acceptable. Since there is only so much hope to go around, there is a freeze on hope. The have-nots have now been reclassified as never-will-haves (Tesich 1992, 13). In the context of Tesich’s essay, truth includes both facts, as in what happens, and ‘moral absolutes,’ as in the ‘self-evident truths mentioned in our Constitution’ (Tesich 1992, 14). Together, these two notions of truth entail the obligation to both act and react. The two passages cited above show that even in the early post-Cold War years, Tesich was already deeply concerned that the American people are neither prepared to act on truth nor react to truth that is disconcerting, or what he calls ‘bad news’ (Tesich 1992, 12). Accordingly, Tesich’s insight as captured by the term post-truth is not that truth is irrelevant to what we know, but rather it is irrelevant to how we act. In contrast, ‘post-truth politics,’ as defined by Oxford as a term that pitches ‘objective facts’ against ‘emotion and personal belief’ such that the latter appears to have overtaken the former in shaping ‘public opinion’ and thereby, democratic politics. When Tesich’s post-truth politics and its current usage are juxtaposed, the two are in fact not identical in terms of what truth is and how it relates to politics. Against such consideration, this chapter provides a critical survey of selected historical events and theoretical considerations for the purpose of gaining a more nuanced understanding of the relation between truth and politics. Truth and Language One notable impact of post-truth politics is that language is being overtly deployed as a political weapon not only by politicians and those in power, but among the general population. It seems that once facts are irrelevant to the validity of what is being said, language becomes the platform for an all-out political contest in which what is said is no more than an act of will expressed as an assertion of power and/or an exercise in defiance. As early as in the writings of Thucydides (460–400 BCE), the vulnerability of logos – which is the human capacity for rational discourse in tumultuous times – was already noted. Thucydides belonged to a school of Greek thought which maintained that language is conventional and that the association between name and things is a result of ‘human use and habit’ rather than ‘nature or divine dispensation’ (Connor 1984, 99). The conventional nature of language means that it is incapable of providing its users with any independent criteria for judgement. In Thucydides’ study of the Peloponnesian War (431–405 BCE), the subversion of logos as seen in the manipulation of language was introduced through his account of the civil war in Corcyra (Thucydides 1972, 236-245). The war first broke out in 427 BCE between the pro-Athenian democratic faction and the pro-Spartan oligarchic faction before it spread to the rest of the Greek world. There was a general breakdown of law and order, resulting in extreme violence and death. Language underwent changes that were reflective of the events of the time. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) translated Thucydides’ description of the situation as follows: The received value of names imposed for signification of things, was changed into arbitrary. For inconsiderate boldness, was counted true-hearted manliness: provident deliberation, a handsome fear: modesty, the cloak of cowardice: to be wise in everything, to be lazy in everything... he that had been so provident as not to need to do the one or the other, was said to be a dissolver of society, and one that stood in fear of his adversary. In brief, he that could outstrip another in the doing of an evil act, or that could persuade another thereto that never meant it, was commended (Hobbes 1839–1845, 8: 348; Thucydides 1972, 242-243). What concerned Thucydides most was that the meanings of words are no more than linguistic conventions that require logos to support them. The Corcyrean civil war was a reminder that such capacity cannot be assumed. This is why history understood as an authentic account of what happens matters. Guided by logos, the historian’s task is ‘the search after truth’, which is established through ‘the absence of the fabulous,’ including ‘the rejection of myth and unverifiable stories’ (de Jonge 2017, 2). Thus, history plays an important role in facilitating the stability of language – without which distinctions and judgements cannot be rendered communicable. Just like Thucydides, Hobbes was a nominalist who subscribed to the view that there is no inherent meaning to words. Hobbes’ state of nature, where there is no common authority, is precisely one in which distinctions cannot be made. As Hobbes put it, there is ‘no Mine and Thine distinct’ nor is there distinction between ‘the notions of Right and Wrong, Justice and Injustice’ (1968, 188; emphasis in original). This is clearly an unsustainable condition for everyone. Behind Hobbes’ famous words that life in the state of nature is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’ is his uncompromising argument for the ‘Leviathan’, which is described by the late American political theorist, Sheldon Wolin (1922–2015), as the ‘sovereign definer’ (Hobbes 1968, 186; Wolin 2004, 238–243). Accordingly, the social contract is importantly a ‘linguistic contract’ that binds all parties to ‘general names agreed upon’ (Peters 1979, 125; Hobbes 1968, 111). Through Thucydides and Hobbes, we can identify a line of thinking that sees politics as a contestation over the use of language, which is based on shared conventions and norms. Thus understood, politics is not a collective quest for the true nature of our being or an epistemological exercise in pursuit of true knowledge. Rather, politics is about humans living with one another by finding a shared language to communicate with one another on matters that affect them all. Truth is in that sense contingent on what is being said as opposed to setting the standard for it. In other words, truth is the embodiment of shareability among us. While truth as such ensures the viability of a political entity, truth by no means represents a normative standard to adjudicate among contesting actors in what they say, let alone in what they do. During Thucydides’ times, ancient China was also experiencing a tumultuous time as the ruling Zhou dynasty deteriorated into the period of the Warring States (481–221 BCE). This was when the rulers of Zhou no longer presided over the territories brought under its control through conquest. Instead of professing allegiance to the Zhou royalty, the lords of these territories became kings themselves to rule over their own land. The period was one marked by endless military campaigns as each of the seven major states aimed to conquer the rest (Lewis 1999). Yet, the period was also known for its intellectual vibrancy as different thinkers challenged the restoring of order among these warring states – including offering ideas and advice to rulers on good governance. Among these thinkers was Confucius (551–479 BCE). His thought, which came to be known as Confucianism, went on to become the state ideology of China from the Han dynasty (206 BCE–222 CE) until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911 when China became a republic. The founding text of Confucianism was the Analects, which is a collection of dialogues between Confucius and his students as recorded by them. One key concept Confucius advanced is the ‘rectification of names’. Though the term only appears in one exchange in the Analects, it is considered a major aspect of Confucius’ thought. Generations of Confucian scholars from past and present, including Western academics, have debated over its interpretation (Makeham 2003). The passage in question reads as follows: Zi Lu said: ‘The monarch of the state of Wei wants you to govern the country, what is the first thing you plan on doing?’ Confucius said: ‘First it is necessary to rectify the names.’Zi Lu said: ‘Is that really what has to be done? You are being too pedantic, aren’t you now? How will you rectify these names?’Confucius said: ‘Zhong You, you are too unrefined. A gentleman, faced with a matter that he does not understand, takes a skeptical attitude. If names are not correct, one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, and if one cannot speak smoothly and reasonably, affairs cannot be managed successfully. If affairs cannot be managed successfully, rites and music will not be conducted. If rites and music are not conducted, punishments will not be suitable. And if punishments are not suitable, the common people will not know what to do. So, when the gentleman uses names, it is necessary to be able to speak so that people understand. If one can say it, one can definitely do it. A gentleman should not be careless with words’ (Analects 13:3 in Cao 2016, 148). This translation is offered by the contemporary philosopher Cao Feng. As Cao notes, the passage is what started the whole debate over ‘exactly what kind of names did Confucius... wish to rectify’ (Cao 2016, 148). Of the three major groups of interpretation examined by Cao, beginning with classical Confucian scholarship, one is arguably the most influential and certainly most pertinent to the issue of language and politics. This is the interpretation that was first associated with the Neo-Confucian master, Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who argued that the ‘rectification of names is simply the rectification of politics’ (Cao 2016, 149). Within this interpretive framework, rectification has the dual functions of correction and prescription by ensuring that predetermined hierarchical roles are strictly adhered to through following ‘the system of rites and propriety’ (Cao 2016, 151). In addition, the rectification of names entails ‘using names to rectify actuality’ (Cao 2016, 151). Yet Cao rejects this whole body of interpretive works by arguing that these were ideas developed later. Instead, Cao suggests the following: The original meaning of Confucius’ rectification of names may, then, be quite simple. Confucius did not mean to establish a concrete, normative system of “names”; rather, Confucius was simply the first person in history to realize or remark upon the importance of language in politics. As a politician, he noticed and foresaw the impact that the indeterminacy, ambiguity, and arbitrariness of names would have on politics. Confucius recognized the political consequences of language’s not accurately expressing meaning or not being accurately received by people. He realized the great role that names, as a means of distinguishing right and wrong and establishing norms, could play in society and politics (Cao 2016, 168). Scholarly debates aside, Cao’s view has the advantage of identifying an interpretation of this controversial exchange in the Analects that enables its readers to extrapolate from it the observation that the meaning of words depends as much on their users as on their interpreters; neither of which can be predetermined. Accordingly, a good ruler is someone who can speak without ambiguity to his subjects and make good his words through actions. Stated differently, Cao’s view on what concerned Confucius then, who was living through times of protracted political upheaval, is that language is an indispensable political tool for those in power and can be deployed by both good and bad rulers alike. To sum up, this historical survey shows that politics as a war of words is by no means a distinctive marker of contemporary politics nor the Western world. Be it ancient or current, east or west, language is subject to manipulation to serve political purposes and when there is an outright war of words that defies existing norms, it is indicative of a political situation in which people no longer share a language and truth becomes irrelevant. Accordingly, political order entails stability in language use. Truth and Politics As previously noted, current use of the term post-truth as an adjective to the term ‘politics’ suggests that once there was a time when politics aligned with truth. Indeed, if we start with Plato’s Republic as the key founding text of Western political thought, we see that the ideal polis (city-state of ancient Greece) is where truth and politics converge, and justice is achieved. Written around 380 BCE when Athens was still coping with its defeat by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War, the Republic is a defence of the rule of the ‘philosopher king’, defined as someone who is ‘guided by the truth’ and is ‘always and in every way’ in pursuit of the truth (Plato 1974, 490a). For Plato, truth converges with virtues and hence, letting the philosopher take charge of politics is to let the wisest and the most virtuous lead the less wise and the less virtuous even if it requires compulsion (Plato 1974, 499b). In Plato’s words, ‘…until the philosophers attain power in a city there will be no respite from evil for either city or citizens…’ (Plato 1974, 501e). The uncompromising rule of philosopher-kings is made palatable by the claim that we are all ‘earth- born brothers’ with random mixtures of gold, silver, bronze and iron, but only the gold can rule (Plato 1974, 414–415). Understandably, academic debates over the interpretation of Plato’s Republic revolve around the question of whether truth as attained in philosophy can be realised in politics as action and whether such a connection is even desirable. Without getting into the details of these scholarly exchanges, I suggest that they all share the concern that truth acquired through the rigorous process of philosophical reasoning is not without problem when applied to the real world of living humans. This is because not all humans are philosophers – and indeed, in Plato’s view, not everyone is capable of becoming a philosopher given the protracted and arduous training that one needs to endure to become one. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), a highly influential political philosopher of the twentieth century, notes that ‘Plato was the first to introduce the division between those who know and do not act and those who act and do not know’ and that such a separation has remained ‘at the root of all theories of domination’ (Arendt 1958, 223, 225). What Arendt points out in this remark is not the gap between theory and practice, but rather that Plato provides the normative ground for those who know the truth to tell those who do not know what to do. Arendt herself took on the challenge of understanding the relationship between truth and politics through her analysis of Nazism and Stalinism. Arendt’s insight, which was controversial when The Origins of Totalitarianism was published in 1951, was to identify Nazism and Stalinism as representative of a new form of political rule – totalitarianism – making it distinct from ‘other forms of political oppression... such as despotism, tyranny and dictatorship’ (Arendt 1973, 460). Arendt defines totalitarianism as a self- contained system of ideas driven by their ‘logic’ and marked by a mode of reasoning called ‘ideological thinking.’ Ideological thinking as such is a distinctive form of political reasoning defined by three characteristics. First, ideological thinking claims to provide a ‘total explanation’ of all historical happenings, encompassing the past, the present, and the future. Second, while ideological thinking is an attempt to account for ‘factual reality’ in its totality, this mode of thinking is paradoxically divorced from reality and experience. This is because experience, being rooted in specificity, is clearly limited in its claim to totality. It follows that as its third characteristic, ideological thinking aims to emancipate thought from the limitation imposed by experience through a ‘specific method of demonstration.’ The method involves arranging facts into an ‘absolutely logical procedure’ that starts from an ‘axiomatically accepted premise’. It is, in short, a ‘process of deduction from a premise’ – which is the only possible movement in the realm of logic that leads to one definitive conclusion. This is how the ‘logicality of ideological thinking’ provides the basis for total explanation and the ‘principle of action’ for totalitarian movement (Arendt 1973, 468–474). Stated differently, totalitarianism is a form of uncompromising idealism that exists in one’s head irrespective of shared reality as experienced. It is the perverse form of what Arendt later refers to as ‘rational truth’, which is the product of the ‘speculative mind’ that belongs to philosophy, mathematics and the sciences. The ‘speculative mind’ is the mind working on its way to generate axioms and theories by relying on the cognitive capacity of the human brain (Arendt 1977, 231). The presence of others has no bearing whatsoever on rational truth. In contrast, ‘factual truth’ is what happens when humans are ‘living and acting together’ (Arendt 1977, 231). Factual truth is therefore particular and temporal by definition. But more importantly, factual truth is ‘political by nature’ because it can only be validated in the context of the human community (Arendt 1977, 238). In other words, factual truth is about humans in their plurality rather than in their singularity. For factual truth to be sustainable, we need what Arendt calls ‘common sense’ – understood as ‘community sense’ (Arendt 1982, 72). There is also another distinction about truth that Arendt makes which is pertinent to understanding how totalitarianism works. The issue is whether the so-called totalitarian ideology is simply an unnecessarily cumbersome way of saying that it is an all-round and polished lie. Here, Arendt calls totalitarian ideology the ‘modern lie’ – in contrast to the ‘traditional lie’. The latter is restricted by two conditions: that it is a lie about the ‘particulars’ and that it deceives only the ‘enemy’ – which means that the liar is not engaged in self- deception. The modern lie, however, involves a ‘complete rearrangement of the whole factual texture’. It also intends to deceive everyone alike, to the extent that those who initiate the lie eventually ‘fall victims to their own falsehood’ (Arendt 1977, 249–254). This distinction between the traditional and modern lie is important. It indicates that not only is totalitarianism a lie, but the lie is in fact too big to fit into the standard meaning of the word. To tell a lie from truth, we need a common standard. In the case of a traditional lie, the common standard is precisely ‘the fabric of factuality’. As such, a lie always appears as a ‘tear’ to that fabric. Yet, modern lies require making a surrogate reality with a completely different context for facts to fit ‘without seam, crack, or fissure, exactly as the facts fitted into their original context’. Arendt notes that as long as those who concoct the surrogate reality are prepared to engage in self- deception to ‘create a semblance of truthfulness’, there is nothing to prevent ‘these new stories, images, and non-facts from becoming an adequate substitute for reality and factuality’ (Arendt 1977, 253–254). Totalitarianism therefore requires a person to stand outside of the system itself in order to make sense of it. Arendt points out that it is futile for us to argue with (for example) a Nazi or a Stalinist on race or class. To confront totalitarianism requires more than just a confrontation with specific facts. It is a more fundamental confrontation between reality as experienced and its total rejection. This means that Nazism and Stalinism are more than radical ways of conducting racial conflict or class struggle. Rather: Totalitarian politics – far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist – use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of factual reality, from which the ideologies originally derived their propaganda value– the value of struggle, for instance, or the interest conflicts between Jews and their neighbours – have all but disappeared (Arendt 1973, xv). Accordingly: The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (that is, the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (that is, the standards of thought) no longer exist (Arendt 1973, 474). Who then is the ‘ideal subject’ of totalitarianism? Although there is a revival of interest in Arendt’s observation on truth and politics since the onset of post- truth politics, not enough has been said about her reply to the question (Hyvönen 2018; Klinkler 2018; Lee 2019; Zerilli 2020). Yet if we take a look at Arendt’s portrait of this ideal subject, her view is even more pertinent to our current challenge. As a self-contained system of ideas that is detached from experience, totalitarian thinking offers consistency in ways that reality cannot. Arendt notes that this kind of consistency is especially appealing to those who have lost a sense of bearing in the world (Arendt 1973, 353). They constitute what she calls the ‘masses’. The ‘mass man’ is thus a highly isolated and atomised individual, who is ‘obsessed by a desire to escape from reality’ (Arendt 1973, 318, 352). In his ‘essential homelessness’ the mass man can ‘no longer bear its accidental, incomprehensible aspects’ (Arendt 1973, 352). This longing for escape from reality is a ‘verdict against the world’ in which one is ‘forced to live’ but ‘cannot exist’ (Arendt 1973, 352). Such a situation is ripe for the ‘revolt of the masses’ against ‘common sense,’ which is ‘the result of their atomisation, of their loss of social status’ and with it, the ‘whole sector of communal relationships in whose framework common sense makes sense’ (Arendt 1973, 352). In short, the masses are people who are considered to be ‘superfluous or can be spared … [who] cannot be integrated into any organisation based on common interest’ (Arendt 1973, 311). Whether one agrees with Arendt’s analysis of the social conditions in the interwar years that led to the formation of the ‘masses’, her portrait of the ‘mass man’ is a powerful account of what can happen to an individual who has become disposable to the society that they used to belong to. Hand in hand with this phenomenon is indeed the collapse of ‘common sense’ that leaves the dislodged individual scrambling for reconnection. By offering the masses a substitute reality validated by the ‘logic of an idea’ rather than by experience, totalitarianism makes it possible for them to live in a world where there is no condition of plurality. Between ‘facing the anarchic growth and total arbitrariness of decay’ and ‘bowing down before the most rigid, fantastically fictitious consistency of an ideology’, the masses will likely ‘choose the latter’ (Arendt 1973, 352). A world created by ideology, then, is more attractive to the masses not because ‘they are stupid and wicked, but because in the general disaster this escape grants them a minimum of self- respect’ by conjuring up ‘a lying world of consistency which is more adequate to the needs of the human mind than reality itself’ (Arendt 1973, 353). Moreover, it is precisely this ability to guarantee consistency that makes it possible for the leaders of totalitarian movements to demand ‘total, unrestricted, unconditional and unalterable loyalty of the individual member’ (Arendt 1973, 323). While this chapter is not a study of the social factors that led to specific contemporary developments such as the result of the Brexit referendum or the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Arendt’s ‘mass man’ seem to have found their counterparts among the supporters of Brexit and Trumpism. Studies of voters’ profiles in both events point to a disproportionate share of supporters from white male lower income backgrounds without university educations. These are individuals who have either already lost their jobs to globalisation or who are at high risk of losing their job with very little capacity to be retrained for the twenty-first century market economy of advanced industrialised states (BBC 2016; Pew Research Center 2018). In short, these displaced workers are part of the tapestry forming the modern equivalent of Arendt’s ‘mass man’ – ready to be the recruits of totalitarianism. Conclusion If we step back to take a more comprehensive approach to the relationship between truth and politics, both historically and theoretically, it is not so obvious that 2016 is a defining moment. From ancient China and ancient Greece to our so-called post-truth age, the indeterminacy of language appears to be a persistent political challenge. Language is always open to manipulation by its users to serve power. Nonetheless, the tendency these days is to single out the ubiquity of social media and the proliferation of Internet platforms as the incubator for the countless cyberwars of words that in turn fuel the real world of politics. In this context, language is no longer the conveyor of objective facts and accurate information, but rather the medium for expressing subjective opinions and feelings, as captured by the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the term ‘post-truth politics’. In contrast, the historical approach used in this chapter shows that it is in fact too easy to point the figure at the Internet and digital communication for the political challenge that we face today. What is being suggested here is that with or without the Internet, language, be it used to convey facts or emotions, is simply a tool for communication that humans have invented. While language per se cannot adjudicate what is true or not true, what is right or wrong, it embodies such capacity when language is a shared norm. That shared norm cannot be sustained without some semblance of cohesion in any given community. Any war of words, irrespective of its platform, is indicative of the breakdown of such cohesiveness. Returning to the original context in which the term post-truth politics was first used by Steve Tesich helps to identify the important distinction between truth as the standard for knowledge and truth as the standard for action. The two do not necessarily coincide. Placed in the context of the history of political thought, this distinction is in fact at the heart of Plato’s Republic. Yet when the philosopher as the quintessential bearer of truth becomes king, the polis that he rules over is far from the ideal of a just state that it purports to be. Instead, it is one that is held together by lies and coercion. What Arendt reveals through her study of Nazism and Stalinism is that it is dangerous for the kind of truth that philosophy generates – ‘rational truth’ – to become the guide to politics. Politics guided by rational truth can only be uncompromising and follows a logic of its own that cannot afford the ambiguity and indeterminacy of reality as lived experiences of humans. A world of post-truth politics can be an opportunity for a new kind of politics if it is indeed about dismantling the idea that truth is the ideal that politics should strive for. But as it stands, the post-truth politics of today is more about invoking a past that never exists to judge the presence as a crisis in naming when the real crisis is about rebuilding a shared space that has room for all – be they of the left, right or centre; cosmopolitan or parochial; civic-minded or self-centred; liberal-minded or bigoted. Politics is and always will be about striving for that space, without which no human can thrive. References Arendt, Hannah. 1958. The Human Condition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Arendt, Hannah. 1973. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Rev. ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Arendt, Hannah. 1977. “Truth and Politics.” In Between Past and Future, 227–264. New York: Penguin Books. Arendt, Hannah. 1982. Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy, edited by Ronald Beiner. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 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Tesich, Steve. 1992. “Watergate Syndrome: A Government of Lies.” The Nation: 12-14. January 6/13, 1992. Thucydides. 1972. The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Rex Warner. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. Wolin, Sheldon. 2004. Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Westen Political Thought. Expanded Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Zerilli, Linda M. G. 2020. ‘Fact-Checking and Truth-Telling in an Age of Alternative Facts.’ Le foucaldien 6, no. 1: 2, 1–22. Theresa Man Ling Lee is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph (Canada). Lee is a political theorist who specializes in contemporary political thought. Her research and teaching areas include continental philosophy, Marxism and critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, philosophy of social science, psychoanalysis, multiculturalism, human rights, disability studies, modern Chinese political thought and comparative political theory. Lee has published on a wide range of subjects in these areas, including intercultural pedagogy and the challenges of teaching as a person with multiple minority designations in a Canadian university classroom.
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