The Real Meaning of 'Totalitarianism.'
This article originally appeared as a thread on Twitter. Reproduced here without permission. Hopefully we will be forgiven.
The cult of scientism is just the latest incarnation of totalitarianism, which remains appealing despite everyone being at least vaguely aware that it's repugnant and dangerous. The key to totalitarianism's appeal is that it provides a sense of power and validation to adherents.
Everyone knows totalitarianism is bad, but few can explain what it really means or recognize it when they become involved in totalitarian ideologies. They tend to confuse it with authoritarianism, which usually develops alongside it, but totalitarianism is a menace unto itself.
Totalitarianism is best understood as the politicization of everything, and putting it that way makes it instantly recognizable in today's America. Cancel culture, chicken sandwich crusades, the Church of Global Warming, and now mask mania and Black Lives Matter are totalitarian.
As you can see from that list, Americans might SAY they know totalitarianism is bad, but they have a very unhealthy appetite for it. There are people who eagerly fling themselves into every new totalitarian ideology, and they roll out as frequently as new cell phone models.
Over the past few generations, totalitarianism has been rebranded, repackaged, and disguised more thoroughly than any of the other dangerous "isms" that tend to revolve around it like moons orbiting some dark planet. Generations were taught NOT to see totalitarianism or fear it.
Instead, they were taught to EMBRACE totalitarianism as "activism," a righteous political crusade. Why should people who are "wrong" be given any respite? Why should they be allowed to spread their wrong ideas? Why allow them to become influential, or even make a living?
The notion of "raising awareness" that grew popular in the 70s and 80s was an early form of repackaged, sugar-coated totalitarianism. Political arguments would no longer be confined to the town hall or public square. Politics would be EVERYWHERE, all the time.
To this day, "raising awareness" is the key ingredient to making totalitarianism seem attractive and hip instead of repellent. The only reason people aren't on board with your righteous crusade is they haven't been exposed to your searing truth in every moment of their lives.
Dragging corporations into political crusades is an inherently totalitarian idea - a key element of fascism in particular, since that system features private ownership of capital but the owners are subordinate to the Party and must energetically promote its politics.
Totalitarians are quite willing to destroy private organizations and industries that are not politically useful to them - that's an acceptable minor victory if the corporation or group cannot be forced to transmit the totalitarian message.
Why is this all so appealing to people who should know better, who were given a birthright of freedom and are only a few decades removed from the great worldwide battle against totalitarian domination known as the Cold War? Short answer: because totalitarianism is FUN.
Being part of the in-crowd, the mob, the throng, the swarm, is exciting, empowering, and validating. The key to the addictive quality of pseudo-science is that it makes adherents feel Very Smart. Their adversaries are Very Dumb, and everyone knows the opposite of dumb is smart.
Likewise, moralistic totalitarian ideologies convey a sense of righteousness and spirituality whose traditional sources have been surgically removed from American popular culture. It's an exhilarating rush to march in the crusade against sexism, homophobia, or white supremacy!
The past three or four decades featured a series of experiments to forge a secular totalitarian religion that could fill the gap created by the marginalization of traditional faith. Only traditional faith is forced to sit on the far side of a "wall between Church and State."
Secular faiths, on the other hand, are inherently bound up with political power. They're not only free to influence politics - they define all sense of meaning and purpose from doing so. Their Church IS the State. Many of their absurd policies can be seen as prayers to the State.
Gun control, for example. Adherents often know little about guns or existing laws. They demand changes that wouldn't make the slightest difference to whatever crisis they're exploiting. They aren't solving problems - they're praying to the State, singing hosannas to its power.
Gun control is a totalitarian ideal - none of the ideologies that flow from totalitarianism can be easily imposed on an armed population, and the rights and responsibilities of firearm ownership are inherently individualistic. It's a perfect vehicle for totalitarian crusades.
People get swept up in totalitarianism and forget about its dangers because it's a rush, it exploits peer pressure, it legitimizes moralism, it provides acceptable targets for enjoyably venting hatred, and it offers a sense of belonging and purpose to alienated nihilistic people.
It offers people a politically venerated form of FAITH, which they are ravenously hungry for. They can build their entire identities around the totalitarian ideal. They love stories of people who rose to fame and power by pushing the ideology - maybe that could be YOU someday!
I was a teenager in the 70s and 80s. We were warned about totalitarianism in school. We were encouraged to ask how Germans could fall in with the Nazis, Russians with the Soviets. I don't think the kids are taught to ask such uncomfortable questions any more. /end
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