Political families under the microscope

Totalitarian regimes

What's your Political Leaning?

Totalitarian regimes

It's important to note here that the term totalitarianism refers to a political system, not a political ideology in the sense of conservatism or centrism. A totalitarian regime is characterized by extensive, coercive state control over all aspects of public and private life.

Freedoms: totalitarian regimes support strong government control over personal and economic life. Totalitarianism exists when the state controls everything in society and has unlimited power.
Philosophy: Totalitarians believe that centralized authority is the only way to guarantee order and fairness, while freedom is a factor of disorder. They want the state to control all aspects of economic and personal life, believing that such control is more likely to produce an ideal society. They are revolutionary regimes that justify violence on the grounds that the previous system was entirely wrong, and that a new model must be established by wiping the slate clean. They cannot tolerate excessive diversity of opinion or any expression that challenges their authority.
Politics: totalitarianism refers to a single-party system. According to Hannah Arendt, totalitarianism is not a political family, nor a despotic political regime. It is the very negation of politics: a system in which men are rendered incapable of independent action. According to her, the aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions, but to destroy the ability to form any other (The Origins of Totalitarianism, 1951). Indeed, totalitarian societies are distinguished by the use of an ideology, the promise of a paradise, such as the end of history or racial purity. Consequently, they eliminate all forms of opposition through political policing and the use of terror.
Economy: totalitarian regimes may tolerate private enterprise if it is forced to serve the interests of the state, or demand that the state control all means of production. They see the free market as a threat to general order, because ideal societies must be planned by the authorities.

There are two general categories of totalitarian regimes: left-wing totalitarian (communism, national socialism) and right-wing totalitarian (military dictatorships, fascism). But these categories lose their meaning if we understand that the matrix is the same. This is the case with Hitler and Stalin. Despite their historical antagonism, we find the same cult of the leader, youth recruitment, censorship, surveillance, repression of all opposition, political persecution and the crushing of all individual freedom.

Hitler (Nazism/Fascism): although Nazism did not formally abolish private property, the Nazi state exercised overwhelming control over the economy. Production, resource allocation and (even private) enterprise were all subordinated to state objectives (rearmament, autarky). There was centralized economic planning to serve the regime's goals.
Stalin (Communism/Stalinism): Stalinism exemplifies total state control of the economy. All private ownership of the means of production was abolished, the economy was fully planned (five-year plans), and the state controlled absolutely all aspects of production and distribution.

Quiz

soc1043.6

1/5

According to Hannah Arendt's analysis, what is the primary goal of totalitarian education systems?