So, I just picked up a book of Sartre's essays. Some are new to me, some I'm re-reading. I ran across his essay, "The Republic of Silence" in which he asserts that in the German concentration camps in the 1940s, it was those who were imprisoned who actually were free. Because they were free from (paraphrasing here...) the bullshit lies that the Germans were espousing. Even though every single daily freedom they had previously enjoyed had been removed, they still were in control of their own freedom of thought and freedom of certainty about right and wrong. "Every accurate thought was a triumph." He goes on to describe how the torture and constant death of the camps forced the prisoners to grapple with the deepest, most sincerely accurate thoughts. Every act was a choice between life and death. "We were on the verge of the deepest knowledge a person can have about themselves."
I find this very moving. I want to live a life that always acknowledges the deepest truths that I hold. But I am a wimp and certainly avoid the pain that would bring me to that point. Anyhow. Anyone out there have any thoughts on this?
Also - how might it apply to our current political situation? Are we move truth-seeking since our fearless leader is filled with lies and deceit?