Thread by @Doc_0

Of COURSE totalitarianism "works." If it wasn't effective, it would not be so enduringly popular. Totalitarianism is the only way for a small minority to enforce its will over a vast population and remake society.

nytimes.com/2021/06/05/opi…

Large populations are very difficult to persuade. They tend to be inherently conservative, thanks to long-standing traditions, a sense of cultural history, and a general comfort level with their societies. They tune out demands for radical change from heated activists.

Totalitarianism "fixes" that problem by politicizing EVERYTHING. The option to "tune out" is removed. The larger population has no choice but to hear the demands of dominant political activists, - all day, every day, everywhere. Punishment awaits those who don't "care" enough.

Totalitarianism attaches real consequences - social, then economic, and eventually legal - to ignoring the demands of radical activists. The public is programmed to think of radicalism as undeniable and omnipresent. Submission becomes the path of least resistance.

Totalitarianism turns the inherent conservatism of a society against it, by making radicalism the "default" setting. Appeasing the radicals and regurgitating their propaganda is the only way to find peace. Compliance is required to have a normal life. Resistance has steep costs.

You see this all the time with our new social media-fueled brand of totalitarianism. Weary people give in and stop resisting just because they want to be left alone. They stop resisting first - they learn not to object, not to use politically incorrect language, to avoid hassles.

Instead of persuading people - which is extremely difficult and frustrating - totalitarians use their power to eliminate resistance first, then inculcate acceptance. Once a critical mass of people are afraid to dissent, totalitarians will assert that silence equals acceptance.

Totalitarians learned a century ago that societies can be herded by imposing initially modest costs on dissent and resistance. It only takes a little political and cultural power to weaponize the natural human desire for acceptance and approval, if it can be applied pervasively.

That's the trick - it's what puts the "total" in totalitarianism. There can be no refuge from the demands of the dominant minority. Their politics have to be EVERYWHERE, all the time. Dissent becomes first unspeakable, and then UNTHINKABLE. There are no "safe spaces."

When you have people thinking about politics every time they speak in public, every time they go shopping, every time they order a chicken sandwich, then you can forcibly change society without persuasion. Raise the cost of resistance to radicalism until it becomes the New Order.

Of course it works. That's why totalitarianism is the hottest ideological product on the planet - vastly more popular than our Founding Fathers' thoughts on the dangers of raw democracy and the importance of sovereign individuals.

"To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical," said Jefferson.

Reverse-engineer that and you have cancel culture: compelling people to propagate ideas they disbelieve is the ticket to controlling them. /end