Summary of the Chapter "The Potent Wizard" from "The Origins of Totalitarianism" by Hannah Arendt
This chapter revolves around Benjamin Disraeli, who is portrayed as a very ambitious politician and was characterized by luck and fortune. He did not know the feeling of déclassé, and thus, he expressed his being a Jew through every aspect possible. He rose through the political ladder in London despite his family being not born in England. He had an excellent and deep understanding of society, as demonstrated in his saying, 'What is a crime among the multitude is only a vice among the few' (p.89), which could be used as an indication of the rise of the Mafia and Mob of the 19th century.
Another factor contributing to his success was his ability to 'absolute sincerity and unreserved' (p.90). He was born an Englishman, and England admired his Jewish history because Jews who had settled in the 18th century were educated and wealthy. Therefore, Disraeli embraced his Jewish roots as it made him a 'chosen man of the chosen race' and him being English as it was an excellent opportunity for him to pursue his political aspirations. Therefore, it was a major achievement for him to be elected a member of the 'Grillion's dining club' (p.91), and the ultimate achievement was a sincere friendship with the Queen.
Disraeli was generally popular and favored, and this is attributed to his greatest achievement that 'nobody said in private that would not have flattered and pleased him if it had been said in public' (p. 92). His success associating with Lord Robert Cecil and his ambition corresponded to Carlyle's heroes. However, his ambition and desire to distinguished longing for the aristocratic society were not unordinary of the
In no European country did the middle class achieve enough to reconcile their intelligence with their place on the social ladder. For instance, the unhappy German philistine noticed Disraeli's struggle to achieve nobility and the general need to 'protect aristocratic titles against bourgeois money' (p.93). This is best illustrated by the development of, among others, vague blood theories and strict control of marriages.
Nevertheless, rich, middle-class men could buy titles, and thus, the aristocracy was haunted. To defeat this rush for the autocracy, Disraeli developed a theory that argued that 'Englishmen are from a parvenu and hybrid race, while himself was from the purest blood in Europe,' 'Arabian laws and Syrian customs regulated life as a Briton,' and 'Jewess is the queen of heaven' (p.93).
These arguments touched the weakest point in the aristocratic race theory and started race opinions with Judaism being degenerated into a simple birth among assimilated Jewry. Disraeli and fellow Jews believed to be the children of God, without believing in God. However, he emphasized the superiority of race as the race was related to blood, which denoted the only one aristocracy, the 'aristocracy of nature' (p.94), resulting from the unmixed race.
Disraeli's theories had a counter effect, where the Jewish intelligentsia was caught up in the general secularization process. Jewish piety on messianic hope and the faith in the chosenness of the Israeli was targeted for dilution (p.95). Through secularization, modern Jewry produced a paradox through Jewish assimilation, which engendered Jewish chauvinism (P.96). This paradox was most powerful in Disraeli, for he was an English imperialist and a Jewish chauvinist, and England was the Israel of his imagination.
Disraeli's superstitious belief in race…
Reference
Arendt, H. (1951). The origins of totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company. Pp. xv - 477.
The economy of the totalitarian state must be effectively directed with only so much control that the system can be directed effectively; it must obtain growth and combat economic problems to the best of its ability so as to ensure political, social and economic stability. Conversely, Arendt argues that "the totalitarian dictator regards the natural and industrial riches of each country & #8230; as a source of loot and a means
In this respect, he fervently opposed all tendencies towards technocratic governance, which he identified both in the Communist bloc in Eastern Europe, and in the rapidly expanding welfare state of the Federal Republic under Adenauer. Technocracy, he asserted, is the objective form of the instrumental tendencies in human reason, and if it is not counterbalanced by the integrally human resources of cultural or rational communication it is likely to
Thus, power in the public realm is, by definition, a manifestation of the people, and it is the people who have the power to change the government's rule if they so desire. Although Arendt's definition of the relationship between violence and power offers an explanation into how the cruelest of dictators can remain in power, her book, the Human Condition, Arendt also makes a case for the importance of speech
Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt, in her book, "Origins of Totalitarianism," attributes the formation of a mass society in Europe in the first decades of the 20th century to "grassroots eruptions" from a number of collective groups. These were the Mob, the masses, the tribes and the starving multitude - all "mobilized for action" and powerful (Arendt 1973). The first of these groups, the Mob, Arendt perceives to have proceeded from the anti-Semitic riots
Theocratic Secular Totalitarianism business countries. General Case Study Guidelines instructor: Simply answering questions part case; questions clues important concepts facts. There can rarely be any compromise between secular and theocratic institutions in a state promoting a totalitarian ideology. A theocracy is a political system present in a country where religious leaders are in charge of imposing laws and legislations that are in accordance with religious thought. A country that is
But that's where we are now. 'We have to look at this operation very carefully and maybe it shouldn't be allowed to go ahead at all'" (Nat Hentoff, p.A19). Today we find our system of government to claim that they are the only people who know the difference between right and wrong and thus while the entire world should disarm themselves of nuclear warheads, we should keep them. Our government
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now