8 characteristics of totalitatarian thought/government ...

rebornFixer

From Robert Lifton's seminal work, and addressed in an excellent book by Hathleen Taylor, "Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control". Read it! I'm not sure if these have been discussed here yet, but here goes:

1) Millieu control: Controlling individual's communication with the external world. Most associated with China these days ... But didn't someone post the other day, to the effect of the U.S. having the least free press of the developed nations?
2) Mystical manipulation: This one is a bit odd, but basically, it means that controlling authorities are able to evoke behaviors and emotions in followers that seem spontaneous (the actual source, i.e., the controller, isn't clear). An example? "God wants me to purge U.S. troops from Saudi soil."
3) A demand for purity: The believe that outsiders are impure or pose a threat to comtaminate the pure. e.g., the believe in radical Islam that non-believers have a defiling presence on holy ground. Also seen in the views of radical Christian leaders in the U.S., who talk about the evil being destroyed, or homosexuals being impure and tainted.
4) The cult of confession: The use of confession to minimize individual's privacy. This happened in Communist Chinese "reeducation" camps, where non-Communists had to confess their impure thoughts in front of fellow students, who then ridiculed them.
5) Sacred science: Viewing one's ideology as morally unchallengable yet also scientifically sound. "We are just plain ... right!" Sound familar? Heck ... Read some posts on here sometime.
6) Loading the language: compressing complex ideas in "soundbytes", e.g., "us vs. them, staying the course, etc.
7) The primacy of doctrine over person: Ethereal ideas (e.g., communism, democracy) are worth more than human lives.
8) The dispensing of existence: The right to control the quality of life and/or fate of members and non-members of a group.

surferdude

I see some of these qualities in all political perspectives. The Dems are just as guilty as the Republicans. But both are a whole lot better than China or North Korea.

There is no utopia on earth. All we can do is strive for balance between public good and individual rights.

rebornFixer

surferdude wrote:

I see some of these qualities in all political perspectives. The Dems are just as guilty as the Republicans. But both are a whole lot better than China or North Korea.

There is no utopia on earth. All we can do is strive for balance between public good and individual rights.

Exactly! I was struck by just how many of these qualities (to varying degrees) are present in all governments, not to mention religious groups. Degree is the variable that differentiates North Korea from the U.S. or Canada, rather than some sort of qualitative difference. Of course I'd rather live here than in North Korea ... But is the latter so different? It would be easy for a modern country to stray too far down the wrong path. When people say that Bush is a fascist, its easy to dismiss the claim as inane, because clearly he's not Kim Jong Il. But when you look at his behavior, and then read these principles, you cannot help but wonder how far down the path he might unwittingly stray.

seagoat2

In a similar vein:

Early Signs of Facism:

Powerful & continuing Nationalism

Disdain for Human Rights

Identification of Enemies as a unifying cause

Supremacy of the military

Rampant sexism

Controlled mass media

Obsession with national security

Religion & government intertwined

Corporate power protected

Labor power supressed

Disdain for intellectuals & the arts

Obsession with crime & punishment

Rampant cronyism & corruption

Fraudulent elections

By Laurence W. Britt, a result of his research of 7 Fascist regimes

Makes you think, don't it?

rebornFixer

seagoat2 wrote:

Makes you think, don't it?

Indeed it does ... I've also read that one of the key differences between Nazism and other totalitarian ideologies is the emphasis on "biological inferiority". The Jews and the Slavs could not be reformed. They were biologically defective and had to be destroyed. This is different from Communist ideologies or societies, according to which non-believers and dissidents could and should be "re-educated" or "re-programmed". Still pretty horrifying, but different. People like Stalin and the Khmer Rouge obviously crossed the boundary into Nazism when they became less interested in "reforming" and more interested in mass killing.
Actually, it was a leftist movement, but the Khmer Rouge fits that definition of facism almost better than Hitler did.

soulsinging

reborncareerist wrote:

Indeed it does ... I've also read that one of the key differences between Nazism and other totalitarian ideologies is the emphasis on "biological inferiority". The Jews and the Slavs could not be reformed. They were biologically defective and had to be destroyed. This is different from Communist ideologies or societies, according to which non-believers and dissidents could and should be "re-educated" or "re-programmed". Still pretty horrifying, but different. People like Stalin and the Khmer Rouge obviously crossed the boundary into Nazism when they became less interested in "reforming" and more interested in mass killing.
Actually, it was a leftist movement, but the Khmer Rouge fits that definition of facism almost better than Hitler did.

we werent talking about nazism. the original post was about fascism. the nazis were not the only fascists.

seagoat2

reborncareerist wrote:

People like Stalin and the Khmer Rouge obviously crossed the boundary into Nazism when they became less interested in "reforming" and more interested in mass killing.

I agree......

And funny (in a peculiar way).....I just noticed the song under my screen name has changed from "Red Mosquito" yesterday to "Dissident" today......hmmm...