And repeating the most salient features of Hannah Arendt's examination of totalitarianism. Here are just a few of her quotes, which are disturbing relevant today:

“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.”

"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, true and false, no longer exist."

“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer...And with such a people you can then do what you please.”

"for those characterized by isolation and lack of social relationships, it's through surrendering their individual selves to ideology that rediscover their purpose & self-respect”

"Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow."

“One could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism ... and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness.”