Sunday Morning Philosophy

Max Horkheimer (1895-1973) was one of the founders of the Frankfurt School of Social Research, and a key thinker of the mid-twentieth century. He was perhaps especially insightful on the rise of fascism, which forced him, like so many others, into exile. Here's a long, but interesting quote that remains, unfortunately, relevant:

"Although most people never overcome the habit of
berating the world for their difficulties, those who
are too weak to make a stand against reality have
no choice but to obliterate themselves by identifying
with it. They are never rationally reconciled to
civilization. Instead, they bow to it, secretly
accepting the identity of reason and domination,
of civilization and the ideal, however much they
may shrug their shoulders. Well-informed cynicism
is only another mode of conformity. These people
willingly embrace or force themselves to accept
the rule of the stronger as the eternal norm.
Their whole life is a continuous effort to suppress
and abase nature, inwardly or outwardly, and to
identify themselves with its more powerful
surrogates—the race, fatherland, leader, cliques,
and tradition. For them, all these words mean
the same thing— the irresistible reality that must
be honored and obeyed. However, their own
natural impulses, those antagonistic to the
various demands of civilization, lead a devious
undercover life within them."