“There exists in our society a widespread fear of judging … [B]ehind the unwillingness to judge lurks the suspicion that no one is a free agent, and hence the doubt that anyone is responsible or could be expected to answer for what he has done… . Who am I to judge? actually means We’re all alike, equally bad, and those who try, or pretend that they try, to remain halfway decent are either saints or hypocrites, and in either case should leave us alone. Hence the huge outcry the moment anyone fixes specific blame on some particular person.”

Arendt argues we shouldn’t be afraid to judge. That to judge is to tell good from bad. That it prevents us from falling in the trap of “thoughtlessness”. That to judge is a moral responsibility. And in order to judge responsibly, that we owe it to ourselves to train our imagination to go visiting, to see all sides of a problem as if they were our own.