DEI (Diversity, Inclusion, Equity) and covid authoritarianism have overtaken our societies. Historian Norman Davies proposed a list of charactics of totalitarianism. How does the current regime stack up in Canada and the U.S.? 1/
Dualist Party-State: Totalitarians create parallel structures within institutions to enforce ideological conformity. Diversity officers injected into organizations, often right at the top of the hierarchy, dictate behaviour and monitor compliance. 2/
This is crucial. The establishment of DEI apparatchiks within public and private organizations is key to the capacity to synchronize conformity and obedience throughout the society. A novel twist is the use of technology (e.g. censorship algorithms) to serve this function. 3/
Bureaucracy: Not only are there formal DEI positions, but large numbers of DEI-educated administrators staff public and private organizations. Many rely on diversity criteria for their appointments. Especially if they lack competence, this makes them reliant on the regime. 4/
Pseudo-Science: Bureaucrats overrule scientists. If you don't pass DEI requirements or are not vaxxed, you will not even considered for a job or grant. Journals increasingly censor articles that challenge official narratives, e.g. that sex is socially constructed. 5/
Utopian Goals: A vision of the New Man cleansed of impurities. The purpose of DEI training (e.g. anti-racism) is to purify the self even of subconscious racist thoughts. People who do not show themselves to be sufficiently pure are cancelled and expelled. 6/
Gangsterism: Protection rackets. Seen during the 2020 riots in the U.S., when shops swore allegiance to the movement in hopes of being spared. Minorities are told to fear the world - they must have the protection of the regime (and are expelled if they don't toe the line.) 7/
Propaganda: The narrative comes first. All mainstream reporting follows, regardless of party or corporate allegiance, telling lies and half-truths regardless of facts on the ground. Media, tech and government operate in lock-step. 8/
This has gone into overdrive during covid. Scientists and doctors are not allowed to question pronouncements from regime administrators, even as the orthodoxy reverses itself. Even citing scientific evidence that goes against the narrative is censored on social media. 9/
Aesthetics of Power: Film, television, publishing and video games have all been absorbed, and are now among the most enthusiast promoters of orthodoxy. They will go to extreme lengths to depict regime-appropriate hero figures, even at the cost of failure in the market. 10/
Dialectical Enemy: The regime casts itself as necessary to defeat the evil of white supremacy which apparently systemically infests every organization. The more powerful the regime becomes, the greater the apparent danger of white supremacy. 11/
Anyone who opposes the regime (truckers, journalists, politicians; black, white, other) is invariably tarred with accusations of white supremacy. Even fortresses of orthodoxy, like universities, are hotbeds of racism. Racists are the most cruel, inhuman people imaginable. 12/
Psychology of Hatred: "Honest enemies or honourable opponents do not exist." You are anti-racist or you are racist: there is no in between. Silence is violence. You are part of the problem, or you are part of the solution. Society has no space for anyone not on board. 13/
Pre-emptive Censorship: Alternative sources, from large to small, are hunted down and cancelled or made invisible. Once a narrative is in place, everything must conform to it or be excluded. Even truth is unacceptable if it contradicts the greater truth of the narrative. 14/
Genocide and Coercion: Thankfully there is no genocide. But that's just a tool: its totalitarian function is to project arbitrary fear. No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you could become a target - you cannot try too hard to keep in line at all times. 15/
Constant coercion is also necessary to build and maintain the machinery of control. The regime invents opponents (e.g. the unvaxxed) and rituals (e.g. pronouns, land acknowledgements, jargon) to force the population to constantly adjust to keep up and conform. 16/
Collectivism: Group identity takes precedence over individual identity. The community is more important than the individual. The health of the community is what matters, even at the cost of the health of individuals. 17/
Moreover, totalitarianism cannot tolerate groups outside its control. In the communist takeover of eastern Europe, replacing independent civil society groups like scouts, hiking clubs, and so on took precedence even over suppressing the market. 18/
Today, every organization, every youth group, every fandom and hobby must be assimilated into the regime, its rituals, and its standards, with members on the ground to enforce orthodoxy. There should be no private space where people act independently of the regime. 19/
Militarism: Not in Canada. In the U.S., liberals have become the party of war, promoting conflict and regime change. The regime and its DEI apparatchiks are integrated into the security and armed services. 20/
Universalism: The values of the regime are universal values. People as far from the regime's centre as Romania marched for BLM. Protesters in the UK chanted, "hands up, don't shoot!" - even though British police don't carry firearms. 21/
International organizations are integrated, and pressure for DEI conformity is included in international agreements. The regime went to the extent of trying to teach DEI to Afghan women. 22/
Contempt for Liberal Democracy: Core principles like freedom of speech, due process, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of movement and assembly - these things are not just jettisoned: they are demonized as white supremacist and patriarchal. 23/
Moral Nihilism: The ends justify the means. Administrative targets like statistically equitable representation of groups and universal vaccination are the sole measures of justice. Any action to achieve them is justified. 24/
During covid, people have been granted or denied access to life-saving treatment not based on their individual need or traditional triage, but in order to achieve administrative equity targets. 25/
The Leader Principle: A cult of the leader. I do not see this. The decentralization of the movement is novel. Whether that is better or worse - or whether leaders are yet to emerge - remains to be seen. 26/
National-Socialist Ideology: The regime justifies itself on the basis of protecting marginalized groups. It doesn't do much for them or for the working class - but neither did historical totalitarians. But it's the property of a global class, not a nation. 27/27
On the leader principle: of course. I forgot. Fauci.
Norman Davies. Europe: A History. 1997. pp. 945-8.
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