In his divisive speech to the nation from Philadelphia, which included the alleged “threat to the foundations of the Republic” posed by conservatives, Joe Biden said something I agree with: “We have to be honest to each other and to ourselves: Too much of what’s happening today in our country is not normal”. What Joe Biden said to slam his political opposition, was also a sentiment most Americans feel in their bones right now. What’s been happening over the past few years is “not normal”, as we are witnessing the forced normalization of what many know to be absurd lies. The normalization of the absurd has happened before in history, particularly during the height of 20th century Communism. Knowing about the untold suffering of that history It’s time to push back now while we have that ability. Let me explain.
First, we’ve all seen absurdities rising in number. The recent confirmation hearings for Justice Jackson included her refusal to answer the question: what is a woman? We saw reporters at some of the 574 riots in 2020 standing in front of burning buildings claiming the gatherings were “peaceful”. We’ve seen the demands to defund police and open our borders with arguments that this would actually cut down on crime. A viral video of a student being punished for claiming there are only “two genders” is the epitome of the dynamic of normalization of the absurd. In this video, a teacher claimed the opinion of many genders beyond male/female is the only opinion permissible and told the student: “Please keep that opinion [that there are only two genders] to your own… house,” The student voiced it was wrong the teacher could give his opinion about gender but not the student. In response came what George Orwell would have written, the teacher claimed he was “not putting [his] opinion out,” but stating “national school authority policy.” The student was subsequently kicked out of school for refusing to follow what he knew was absurd.
In the past few days, the latest Orwellian absurdity came to light at the Air Force Academy. In a recent “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion” training session, future military leaders were told to revamp their language and drop terms like “Dad and Mom” from vocabulary. From a description by the National Review: “(the DEI training) reminds readers to ask for a person’s preferred gender pronouns and names rather than referring to them by their observable sex. Recommended substitutes for ‘you guys,’” for “gender-neutral terms”. “Some families are headed by… two moms, two dads, etc.: consider ‘parent or caregiver’ instead of ‘mom and dad,’” Those justifying this “training” claim “our leaders have deemed D&I a warfighting imperative.” Little is more absurd than to claim this training a “warfighting imperative”.
History gives examples of where this can take a people. Noted Soviet Historian and former dissident, Alexi Yurchak, coined a term to describe the last years living in the Soviet Union before its collapse: “HyperNormalisation”. Alexi wrote that that in the Soviet Union of the 1980s, everyone from the top leadership to laborers knew Communism was not working, and that it was corrupt, and was being looted by Communist elites. Importantly, average people knew that the Communist leaders knew that the people knew it. Though all knew it was a fraud, nobody could object and so most just accepted this absurd situation as normal.
As Soviets had learned through the tens of millions executed or sent to Gulags for questioning lies, it was much easier to go along and pretend. Famed writer, Theologian, and dissident, Aleksandre Solzhenitsyn had been a decorated Artillery Captain Communist during World War II, but then spent many years in the Gulag system for one critical comment about Stalin in a letter to a friend. During the great Stalinist purge of the 1930s, millions were killed or imprisoned for showing any sign they questioned the absurdity of Soviet Communism.
We haven’t reached the level of Hypernormalization of the Soviet Union, but we are heading that direction faster every day. We are watching what we know to be absurd, and then watching anyone questioning the absurd punished. Even stalwart Liberals, like Alan Dershowitz have been cancelled for speaking out against cancellation or absurdities, as he described in his recent book “Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech.
In fighting back to prevent the total normalization of the absurd, we should pay heed to what Solzhenitsyn advised as his words are prescient and relevant to us. He advises strength and courage in upholding truth: “Our way must be: Never knowingly support lies! … Let us not… patch together its decomposing garb, and we will be amazed how swiftly and helplessly the lies will fall away, and that which is destined to be naked will be exposed as such to the world… Let each man choose: Will he remain a witting servant of the lies, or has the time come for him to stand straight as an honest man, worthy of the respect of his children and contemporaries?” May we stand against absurdity and with truth God gave us the ability to see. Always.
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