"The Origins of Neototalitarianism"

[Dave Monroe]

A couple of items that might be of interest from the
latest issue (#16, "The Stockholm Syndrome") of
Hermenaut ...

http://www.hermenaut.com/

Which, unfortunately, ISN'T online yet, but do take a
look around for what's available from back issues.  In
the meantime ...

"The Origins of Neototalitarianism," by Clarke Cooper
(pp. 19-32)

"Forget waht you weren't taught.  Fascism and
Communism aren't demons, they're just authoritarian
forms of government--they break eggs for omelets.  And
while Hitler and Stalin played at being respectively
Fascist or Communist, you're wrong about them
too--those were just costumes for a much more
ambitious project: totalitarianism.  An authoritarian
wants to control your behavior; totalitarianism wants
to produce it.  To do that it needs to control not
just actions, but the meanings of actions." (p. 19)

Interesting slide in subjectivities there, from "an
authoritarian" to "totalitarianism," no?  And Hitler
and Stalin, Fascism and Communism, authoritarianism
and totalitarianism "broke" more than mere "eggs," of
course, but ... but, to continue ...

"A movement can only ensure its continuous motion by
that rejection of the definite.  Any attainable goal
is obviously limited: having attained it, well, you're
done.  A non-moving movement is nothing, so the
totalitarian movement has to be limitless. 
Totalitarianism can have aims but noty goals--not even
measurable succeses--just direction and motion." (p.
20)

"Since the moevment's aim needs to be nonattainable it
doesn't matter what it is ....  What a totalitarian
ideology needs more than any particular kind of
content is simple consistency.  Life is chaotic; our
brains are not--we demand an explanation."  (ibid.)

And so forth.  Also ...





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