As soon as man began considering himself the source of the highest meaning in the world and the measure of everything, the world began to lose its hu… - Václav Havel

I am referring to respect for the unique human being and his or her liberties and inalienable rights and to the principle that all power derives from the people. I am, in short, referring to the fundamental ideas of modern democracy. What I am about to say may sound provocative, but I feel more and more strongly that even these ideas are not enough, that we must go farther and deeper.

ricostruire il mondo naturale come vero terreno della politica, a riabilitare l’esperienza personale degli uomini come misura prima delle cose, ponendo la moralità sopra la politica e la responsabilità al di sopra dei nostri desideri, a dare significato alla comunità degli uomini, a restituire il contenuto al linguaggio umano, a ricostituire l’«Io»-uomo, autonomo, integrale, dignitoso come fulcro di tutta l’azione sociale, responsabile per noi stessi, perché siamo legati a qualcosa di più grande e capace di sacrificare qualcosa, in casi estremi anche tutto, della sua prosperosa e banale vita privata– quella «legge della quotidianità», come Jan Patocˇka era solita definirla– per il bene di ciò che dà significato alla vita.

It seems the primary breeding group for what might, in the widest possible sense of the word, be understood as an opposition in the post-totalitarian system is living within the truth. The confrontation between these opposition forces and the powers that be, of course, will obviously take a form essentially different from that typical of an open society or a classical dictatorship. Initially, this confrontation does not take place on the level of real, institutionalized, quantifiable power which relies on the various instruments of power, but on a different level altogether: the level of human consciousness and conscience, the existential level. The effective range of this special power cannot be measured in terms of disciples, voters, or soldiers, because it lies spread out in the fifth column of social consciousness, in the hidden aims of life, in human beings' repressed longing for dignity and fundamental rights, for the realization of their real social and political interests. Its power, therefore does not reside in the strength of definable political or social groups, but chiefly in the strength of a potential, which is hidden throughout the whole of society, including the official power structures of that society. Therefore this power does not rely on soldiers of its own, but on the soldiers of the enemy as it were — that is to say, on everyone who is living within the lie and who may be struck at any moment (in theory, at least) by the force of truth (or who, out of an instinctive desire to protect their position, may at least adapt to that force). It is a bacteriological weapon, so to speak, utilized when conditions are ripe by a single civilian to disarm an entire division. This power does not participate in any direct struggle for power; rather, it makes its influence felt in the obscure arena of being itself. The hidden movements it gives rise to there, however, can issue forth (when, where, under what circumstances, and to what extent are difficult to pr