“In the first place, we don't like to be called ‘refugees.’ We ourselves call each other ‘newcomers’ or ‘immigrants.’ ...A refugee used to be a person driven to seek refuge because of some act committed or political opinion held. Well, it is true we have to seek refuge; but we committed no acts and most of us never dreamt of having a radical opinion...Now ‘refugees’ are those of us who have been so unfortunate as to arrive in a new country without means... We wanted to rebuild our lives, that was all.”
Let those words rest with you for a moment. Hannah Arendt wrote those in 1943 after a tumultuous journey leaving her native Germany for a better life. When she arrived here in the States, she had survived two concentration camps and tried to quickly assimilate herself into the culture where she was before the Nazis swept away everyone who they deemed - using her word - “superfluous.”
Arendt found a place to live and was encouraged to abandon all her memories of her previous life in an instant. While she learned to be an American through immersion (English would become her third language), Arendt would spend most of her life railing against the tide of totalitarianism that erased her past.
Arendt was born to a Jewish family in Hanover, Germany in 1906. Her father died when she was seven and she lived with an agnostic family who noticed how smart she was. At college, she studied Philosophy and Religion with the existentialist Karl Jaspers and Martin Heidegger, with whom she had a brief affair. Her politics were shaped by a childhood where she was bullied for being Jewish but taught by her mother to fight back. The smarter Arendt became, the more ardently she fought. Her battle against anti-Jewish discrimination led to her arrest when Adolf Hitler initially took power in Germany in 1933. From here, Arendt started again in Czechoslovakia, then Switzerland, and then Paris - each time being detained as an “alien” by a new regime and then forced to leave. In Paris, when they knew the Nazis were coming, the military leadership demands that these “aliens” report immediately for internment camps. In “We Refugees,” Arendt succinctly describes this as “put into concentration camps by their foes and internment camps by their friends.”
After years in New York City and being made an American citizen in 1950, Arendt collected all her experiences and lessons into the book “The Origins of Totalitarianism” - which now, seventy years later, is again in circulation. (National Review named it #15 on its list of the Best Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century.) Her perspective breaks down both Stalinism and Nazism into periods of preconditions that were “tolerated,” how “political terror” was first used on adversaries before being turned inward and she borrowed Immanuel Kant's “Radical Evil” to describe those who could coldly calculate the lives of others as being “superfluous.”
A few years later, Arendt would continue her philosophical writings. She turned daily life into a means of the analysis of the entire history of Western Civilization in 1958's “The Human Condition.” 1963's “On Revolution” examined the American and French Revolutions of the 18th Century as history's prediction of the success of democracy. She also took positions at most of the major universities including Notre Dame, Princeton, The University of Chicago, and Stanford. However, she became most famous for her 1961 coverage of the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel for The New Yorker which was later published in book form as “Eichmann in Jerusalem.” Ironically, during the trial, Eichmann tries to justify that he was “just doing his job” by citing Kant's categorical imperative (“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become universal law”). Arendt breaks down his entire argument from his unknown violation of the “golden rule” according to Kant to deduce that the dreaded “Final Solution” was only proposed because Eichmann “ceased to live by any principles.” In the end, Arendt was most disturbed by the fact that Eichmann showed no guilt or remorse and no anger toward those cross-examining him. She concluded that this was “the banality of evil.”
Arendt as a writer is as most philosophers: slightly obsessed with always following that logical path where patterns can be drawn and substance leads to a decision. Still, despite all of the swirl of events around her, Arendt always remained an optimist. Her position was not to seek revenge or quell hatred; it was to use a series of facts and observations to prove a point. "We Refugees" is highly personal. However, her detachment of emotion from the events often helps to better illuminate her points. She viewed these "transformations" as a necessary means of not only survival - but perhaps most importantly preserving her optimism in her fellow human.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
New This Week
MACHINE GUN KELLY - Mainstream Sellout
[CD](Bad Boy/Interscope)
Say what you will about Colson Baker, he definitely puts all his enthusiasm into whatever he is doing. "Mainstream Sellout" plays it a little too safe but that is to be expected after his breakout on "Tickets To My Downfall." "ay!" is (now) standard sadboy Emo-Rap with a blurry Lil' Wayne feature. MGK does at least prove his adaptability with Weezy's weird meter. "Emo Girl" with WILLOW is more cutting anthemic Pop/Punk that dwells too long in his lower register. "Maybe" with Bring Me The Horizon cranks the Punky slam even more and features a better (less repetitive) chorus with a clever release. While "Sellout" is not really a sellout, it could have been a little less "Downfall 2."
WALLOWS - Tell Me That It's Over
[LP/CD](Atlantic)
Los Angeles' wise Indie Pop band Wallows have ridden a consistent rise in listeners and fans to their second full-length release. Since their Spotify smash "Pleaser" in 2017 (note: those first singles are coming in a limited edition run for Record Store Day 2022 - April 23rd,) Wallows have carefully ratcheted up their success with chart singles in AAA, Alternative, and Rock. "Tell Me That It's Over" is here to prove that the last few years have been no fluke. The bubbly Eighties SynthPop of "Especially You" is most poised for single success. "At The End of The Day" is even closer to 1986 in writing and production. Working with Ariel Rechtshaid has clearly refined their writing ("I Don't Want To Talk") and pushed them a little further in the direction of Pop success.
DESTROYER - Labyrinthitis
[LP/CD](Merge/AMPED)
Thirteen albums into his career leading this crack band/songwriting machine, Dan Bejar edges closer again to some kind of breakthrough hit. Since "Chinatown" in 2011, Bejar's wild use of dance beats and synthesizers (which he even used in 2020's stellar "Cue Synthesizer") pushes his poetic and almost meter-less writing in new directions. "Labyrinthitis" may be Bejar at his most unpredictable. "June" is a seven-minute stream-of-consciousness jeremiad that kicks off with melody before descending into chaos. Given his love of funky guitar, bass, and synth, "Labyrinthitis" is like a more melodic yet manic Leonard Cohen during his later years. Destroyer continues to separate himself from everyone else in music.
MAREN MORRIS - Humble Quest
[LP/CD](Columbia Nashville)
Morris, like so many Country female artists, finally broke through into the Pop charts - which earned her more respect from the male-dominated Country charts. The Gold "Girl" remains a steady seller, so "Humble Quest" does not need to steer too far from its winning formula. "Circle Around This Town" is more autobiographical but packs a wallop of a chorus. "Background Music" is a unique take on her relationship that is sweet and understated, while "Nervous" is a steamy Country-ish Rocker that shows how well she can sing. "Humble Quest" despite its use of big-name Pop producer Greg Kurstin proves that Morris' heart really belongs to Country.
FOLLY GROUP - Human and Kind
[12"] (Technicolour UK/Ninja Tune/Redeye)
One of the breakout singles of last year was the brassy Gang of Four-isms on "Fashionista." While a lot of Brit songs have that danceable swagger, Folly Group flaunts their dangerous edge in the same way all these Sprechgesang groups like Yard Act have. "Paying The Price" is a mid-period stab at Gang of Four ("Songs of The Free" which no one touches, but heavily influences them all.) "I Raise You (The Price Of Your Head)" is Folly Group at its most repetitive and chaotic. As a result, "Human and Kind" perches itself on the Next Big Thing list.
APOLLO GHOSTS - Pink Tiger
[LP](You've Changed CAN/Redeye)
This longtime Punky Pop Vancouver band has cooled their music down to a breezy Belle and Sebastian acoustic jangle paired with some very introspective lyrics. "Pink Tiger" is a mammoth set of songs (22!) that crackle like classic AM radio ("Golden Teacher,") 90's K Records ("Soft American") and Elliott Smith/Nick Drake romantic fatalism ("Anxious Love, Pt. 2") Many of the songs carry that buoyant "campfire" feel, like they were tested with just acoustics. To make each track feel different, Apollo Ghosts add small touches of synth, backing vocals and more - but the Yo La Tengo-ish "Pink Tiger" groove is not one to be interrupted.
