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Short essay on totalitarian state
Short essay on totalitarian state
Short essay on totalitarian state
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You would be lying to yourself if you thought that an attempt of a society based solely on hate has not tried to survive throughout our human history. A totalitarian society is defined as a centralized government that doesn’t tolerate parties with differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life. There have been various attempts to design a totalitarian type of government, but all have failed for more than one reason. A society based solely on hate can’t survive due to the obstacles of freethinkers and challenges of forcing an emotion like hate on people would destroy the society slowly from the inside out. If history has taught us anything about hate societies it’s that the dictators that lead these governments During Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany, he had tried to form a totalitarian society based on hate and in the end of it all, it did not survive. “The Government ran and censored the media. All forms of communication were liable to interference from above and could, and were, heavily censored. This removes freedom of speech, therefore enabling the government to influence popular opinion via propaganda and false news messages”(Was Hitler’s Germany A Totalitarian State? 1). Similar to Orwell’s “Big Brother” society, a form of “thought-police” was created to fight against all resistance to this society. In Germany, “the secret police was publicised, its role was to find enemies of the state. These people would quite often be publicly humiliated or even tortured. Such actions making people think twice before questioning the state. Likewise the police and Gestapo had the authority to remove people from their homes and send them, often without trial, to concentration camps” (Was Hitler’s Germany A Totalitarian State? 1). O’Brien’s way of thinking was also similar to Hitler’s in that they wanted to eliminate all freethinkers. “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There “The first thing you must realize is that power is collective. The individual only has power in so far as he ceases to be an individual. You know the Party slogan: "Freedom is Slavery". Has it ever occurred to you that it is reversible? Slavery is freedom. Alone—free—the human being is always defeated. It must be so, because every human being is doomed to die, which is the greatest of all failures. But if he can make complete, utter submission, if he can escape from his identity, if he can merge himself in the Party so that he IS the Party, then he is all-powerful and immortal. The second thing for you to realize is that power is power over human beings. Over the body—but, above all, over the mind” (Orwell 273). O’Brien argues that the Party and “Big Brother” had control over reality externally due to the fact that nothing exists outside the mind, and in cases of freethinkers, they would be taken care of by the teachings of “doublethink”. Doublethink is the power to hold two completely contradictory beliefs, for example holding up four fingers and claiming that you have five up, and simultaneously making one accept both of them. So if a society was entirely based off of the idea of doublethink as it’s way of forcing lies and reasons of hate on people, then it could work. But the one counter-argument to that
Throughout History our world has seen societies which have risen to power and publicity through pure hatred and suffering of others. Our past could yet, reveal the answer to the question, “Can a society based on hate and suffering survive?”. The most powerful and controversial of these societies will be mentioned and with hope, put an end to our uncertainty. The German Reich, modern day North Korea, Al-Qaeda, and the Ku Klux Klan. These listed had based their societies on hate, suffering, or both, which they have marked themselves forever in history.
While the society in Brave New World refrains from lethal methods of repression, the government in George Orwell’s 1984 build their power off of fear. Throughout the novel, the government holds daily gatherings in which citizens are shown the enemies of state and is always ended with the phrase “Big Brother is watching you” (Orwell et al). This alone demonstrates the government’s implementation of fear on its own people. The notion that the government is monitoring your every move creates an atmosphere of anxiety and oppression. Not only by displaying their ability to monitor their citizens, the government uses aggressive and almost always lethal methods to rid society of nonconformists. For “criminals”, or enemies of the state, ...
Many frightening works of literature have been written about the possibilities of controlled thinking. Through the years, systems of government have arisen that parallel those written about in a frightening way. Dating back to the Nazi rule in Europe, people have been using propaganda to control people’s thought. Such propaganda is dangerous because nothing in society can function properly. An example on the subject of education by James Baldwin, “It is very nearly impossible to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind”. Without free thought, there would be no original art, poetry, or music. It’s very apparent that the freedom of the human mind is not to be taken lightly, and It’s a liberty I’d gladly
The book “1984” by George Orwell is a fictional work that was penned as a discourse on Orwell’s views of what it would be like to live in a totalitarianism society. It is my belief that his views were based on his personal life experiences as he witnessed first hand many of the violent crimes perpetuated by those in positions of authority. Often, these crimes against one segment of society were carried out by other members of the same society in the name of political advancement or at other times out of fear for one’s life. Due to his experiences, Orwell began to write of his hatred of political power and the concept of a totalitarianism society. “1984” serves as a warning to readers of how a government can become abusive when seeking total control of it’s population. Furthermore, it showcases in great detail how a society can allow itself to be controlled through a series of psychological abuses and manipulation of historical information.
In many real and fictionalized totalitarian societies, children live apart from their families. I believe that dictatorial leaders enforced this living arrangement because they don’t want parents to influence their children, to make sure people are loyal to the society, and to maintain everyone equal. They do this so that they have total control over their society.
A totalitarian government is place that no person should ever be forced to live in because this type of government controls almost every aspect of its citizens’ lives. The dictators controlling these kinds of government’s take away people’s basic human rights, brainwash kids into showing no loyalty towards their families, and imprison or execute all who might be a remote threat to their party. The government then controls the remaining population with the fear of being arrested by secret state police regardless if they have committed, or planned to commit, a crime. The leaders of these societies have no regard for the wellbeing of anybody but themselves, and once they come to power, it is usually too late to stop what happens next.
Totalitarian regimes take over control of every aspect of an individual's life in which the state holds total authority. The only thing Totalitarian regimes do for its community is cause the basic rights of humans to be destroyed by brutality and terror. The Totalitarian society of any regime is constantly moving toward some end goal, even though the totalitarian state never reaches it. It instead creates the illusion of doing so. As soon as one goal was reached, it was replaced by another and such was the case in Stalin's Russia.
1984, a book by George Orwell, offers an alternate reality for what the future could have been. The concept of a totalitarian society is but a far off, if not long dead, ideal. In the past totalitarianism was not just an ideal but an actual living, breathing menace to people of the late 1940s. Totalitarian governments would go to horrific lengths in order to sustain and increase their power. In the novels 1984, by George Orwell, and Anthem, by Ayn Rand, propaganda, class distinction, and naivety are explored in fictional societies. Orwell’s and Rand’s stories are based on dystopias and the individuals of those societies who dare to stand out. George Orwell uses Winston Smith, the timidly rebellious protagonist; The Party, the ruling government; and Big Brother, the face of The Party; and Ayn Rand utilizes Martyrdom, the sacrificing of oneself; Naming, a process using words and numbers as a means of identification; and Collectivism, everyone is the same and refers to themselves as we, to illustrate how dangerous a naïve working class, spin and propaganda, and an unacknowledged class distinction can be in a society.
Americans today tend to believe that one of the world’s biggest fears is totalitarianism. The thought of a government that has complete and utter control continues to bring fear in people today. According to an article titled “Totalitarianism,” the author states, “Totalitarian governments use propaganda to spread ideas in order to control every aspect of life, including economic, social, political, and intellectual. This control was meant to serve a purpose; to unite the people in the achievement of common goals.” In other words, the author believes that individuals are not allowed any freedoms unless the leader of the state allowed it. For example, Adolf Hitler is responsible for the creation of the Nazi Party. During Hitler’s rule of Germany there were many characteristics of a totalitarian state. The government ran and censored the media, meaning all forms of communication were heavily censored, and therefore removing freedom of speech. In George
George Orwell’s 1984 is a novel that explores the effects of totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is one political power ruling over all aspects of daily life. Orwell’s totalitarian government uses Big Brother, the Thought Police, the telescreen and Two-Minutes of Hate to show the control over the people of Oceania and their lack of independence.
Total governmental control is what countries have been seeking since the beginning of civilization. With the complete control over governmental affairs a totalitarian government can function to an exemplary degree of efficiency. The people are left out of the decisions and they are not to be worried about worldly affairs because the government makes all the decisions and gets objectives completed quickly and without hesitation. In George Orwell’s “1984” the dangers of a corrupted totalitarian government are illustrated through the plot of Winston Smith, the main character whom decides to challenge The Party’s power and authority after he commits a thoughtcrime. Also when Orwell published his novel he released this statement to protect his intentions, “My recent novel is NOT intended as an attack on Socialism or the British Labour Party (of which I am a supporter) but as a show-up of the perversions to which a centralized economy is liable and which have already been partly realized in Communism and Fascism” (Bloom 44). As Orwell states, he is not attacking any forms of government or countries that seem similar, he is simply alerting us to the dangers of a totalitarian government and the effects it can have on society. George Orwell uses contradictions throughout his novel and these contradictions seem to be the very backbone of The Party. The totalitarian government in the novel, otherwise known as The Party, achieves the goal of absolute power of their kingdom at the expense of the attributes that set human beings apart from animals. The Party achieves this goal through the destruction of history, language, and intimacy.
Firstly, perhaps no book has linked animals to human counterparts better than Animal Farm. Orwell's beasts serve as a representation of important characters of the World War II era and beyond. For example, Karl Marx, the inventor of the communist movement, was represented by Old Major, the most important animal on the farm until his death. Much like Old Major, Marx was a visionary who dreamed of equality. Old Major states:"Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion!"(Orwell, Animal Farm, 30). In addition, he inspired the Russian Social Democratic Leader Party, led by rivals Joseph Stalin and Leon Trostky. Napoleon is represented by Joseph Stalin and much like him, he builds loyalties within the communist party ( pigs and dogs) so that he can overthrow Snowball (Trostky). Snowball displaying similar traits with Trotsky in the fact that they both fight bravely in their respective battles. Trotsky was an important component to the victory in the Russian civil war, Snowball displaying this bravery during the battle of the cowshed. The hens, geese, and sheep that are executed are a representation of the millions who opposed Stalin's, and who are killed banished as a result. The hens and geese are not known for their docile natures, and serve as perfect rebels . As well, the pigs' metamorphosis of their face and behaviour is symbolic of the transition of a government initially for the people, into ...
In many real and fictionalized totalitarian societies, children live apart from their families. There can be many reasons for them doing so. It could be because they want to brainwash them and don’t want their thoughts to be skewed from the belief of their families. And it could also because they don t want them to have any special connections to any other people to replicate a feeling of equality amongst all people. It also causes them to have no sense of individuality. Also, by separating the child at birth it prevents the parent from growing any feelings such as love towards the child. By separating the children from their families at birth it sets them up in a position to be taught without questioning the way the society wants them to believe.
For a historian, the 20th century and all the historic events that it encompasses represents a utopia with endless sources of inspiration for the analysis of political figures, events and their consequences. Political figures such as Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Mao Zedong of China and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union are all names we are familiar with due to the time period that they influenced; this time period after the trauma and atrocities of World War I and the Great Depression led to completely new forms of government in Europe and beyond. These “manifestations of political evil”, commonly known as totalitarian states, should not be considered as mere extensions of already existing political systems, but rather as completely new forms of government built upon terror and ideological fiction. Therefore, this was also a time in which political philosophers such as Hannah Arendt, the author of the standard work on totalitarianism, “Origins of Totalitarianism”, could thrive. When looking at totalitarianism as a political philosophy, two initial questions have to be dealt with: what is totalitarianism and what kind of effect it has on countries ruled by totalitarian regimes.
In the novel 1984, George Orwell predicts the world’s future, when human rights, such as freedom of speech, do not exist anymore. Everyone has to obey the government. The government controls its citizens’ lives. No one speaks up against the government yet because they do not even have a chance to make up a thought about it. The government dominates the citizens’ thoughts by using technologies and the thought polices to make sure no one will have any thoughts, that is against the government. George Orwell wrote:“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows,” (Orwell.2.7.69) the government tries to control Winston knowledge and change it to fit into the purpose of the Party. To Winston, O’Brien said: “Whatever the Party holds to be truth is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.” (Orwell.3.2.205). As a citizen, no one get to look at or tal...