Living in a lie

Czech dissident Václav Havel proposed the famous concept known as "living in a lie" when he analyzed former Soviet and Eastern European systems. For instance, a greengrocer puts up in his window a slogan reading "Workers of the world, unite!" — but he doesn't believe a word of it; he puts it up only to protect himself and to get through the inspection.

捷克思想家哈维尔在剖析前苏联东欧体制时，提出过一个著名概念叫“生活在谎言中”。比如一个卖菜的店主在橱窗里贴上“全世界无产者联合起来”的标语，他自己根本不信这句话，贴上去只是为了自保、为了应付检查。