Opposed imperialist temperaments produced identical toxic political effects

Evidence

There certainly was an abyss between the vulgar megalomaniac and the educated man of sacrifice and duty; yet they arrived at roughly identical results and were equally responsible for the “Great Game” of secrecy, which was no less insane and no less detrimental to politics than the phantom world of race. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 546

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes how moralizing discourse (‘duty,’ ‘sacrifice’) can be causally equivalent to naked self-interest — relevant to critiquing humanitarian justifications in Islamophobia policy rhetoric. — connects to: Simulacral war causes identical suffering while losing ideological stakes — Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 138; Merleau-Ponty held dogmatic political stances that contradicted his temperament — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 722; Skinner’s behaviorism was seen as equally compatible with libertarian and fascist politics — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1013 (+1 more)