Reading Arendt in dark times

In this study, Hannah Arendt's understanding of 'Dark Times' and the responsibility that people should bear both for their contemporaries and the future generations are evaluated within the scope of today's political conditions and with particular reference to the Trump administration. In doing that, it will seek to conclude that we were living in the dark times that Arendt warned us about - which could occur anytime in history. The only way to overcome these dark times is through the commitment of people who fulfill their responsibilities towards the world. In dark times, people, who lost the connection with the common world that they shared, together with their proper access to the public sphere and the political, cannot understand the events as clear as they really are, because their perception of reality is disrupted. Their existence degrades to self-alienation. The individual would be alienated from the world by living a life without meaning. The current political atmosphere is shaped by intolerance to differences and diversity. One of the worst crisis of human rights has been revealed by the collapse of the nation-state with the refugee issue and the abuse of democratic principles. When the attempt of several governments to degrade all truth to the meaningless triviality is also considered, it is obvious that Arendtian thinking is still valid in the 21st century and that keeping our guard up against possible dangerous situations is still an ongoing necessity. Keywords: Hannah Arendt, Dark Times, Donald Trump