Thought requires a political situation free of immediate crisis demands.

Evidence

But now, in the wake of an era dominated by the social-democratic consensus, and a Conservatism tainted with distinct corporatist tendencies, “Freedom/free market” is once again in the foreground of the conservative ideological repertoire. “Free market—strong state”: around this contradictory point, where neoliberal political economy fused with organic Toryism, the authentic language of “Thatcherism” has condensed. It began to be spoken in the mid-1970s—and, in its turn, to “speak,” to define—the crisis: what it was and how to get out of it. The crisis has begun to be “lived” in its terms. This is a new kind of taken-for-grantedness; a reactionary common sense, harnessed to the practices and solutions of the radical Right and the class forces it now aspires to represent. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1112 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Picquart was no hero and certainly no martyr. He was simply that common type of citizen with an average interest in public affairs who in the hour of danger (though not a minute earlier) stands up to defend his country in the same unquestioning way as he discharges his daily duties. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 314 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A political language rises when it can define and narrate a crisis — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1112; Ideology works by setting the limits of what is considered permissible to think.; Ordinary citizens act politically only when crisis directly summons them — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 314 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A political language rises when it can define and narrate a crisis #complicates (0.78) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1112
• Ordinary citizens act politically only when crisis directly summons them #complicates (0.76) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 314
• Ideology works by setting the limits of what is considered permissible to think. #complicates (0.75)
• Effective political action requires temporary closure despite open-ended knowledge. #complicates (0.74)