Albert Camus on how authoritarians twist language into weapons

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US President Donald Trump (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

The world finds itself in a cultural setting in which large swaths of democratic countries place their faith in faux salvific “strongmen”, part of whose “populist” appeal is based on their ability to lie, exaggerate and bully opponents with impunity.

The philosopher, author and French resistance member Albert Camus wrote that the struggle against totalitarianism was a struggle to preserve a few vital distinctions . It lies in the ability to think and speak clearly.

We cannot allow language to be distorted by those ambitious for power at all costs, to become a cultural weapon in their hands.