Larry Boothe
Blog Post #5
Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism: Part Three of the Origins of Totalitarianism
Chapter 1: A Classless Society; The Masses
Like the regimes of Hitler and Stalin, most totalitarian movements are associated with the significance and influence of a great leader. However, Arendt would contend, more accurately, that it is the masses who are truly significant and responsible for perpetuating a totalitarian movement. The leader is a mere “functionary” of the masses he leads; he can be replaced by the will of the masses and is a nonentity without them. Arendt describes a totalitarian movement as mass organizations of atomized, isolated individuals who, for one reason or another, acquired an appetite for political organization. They are not organized into classes or citizens with opinions about politics; rather they are usually apolitical, indifferent members of society who never go to the polls or join a party. They place themselves outside of the party system and present arguments based on deep psychological or social sources beyond the power of reason. The masses in a totalitarian regime are groups of dissatisfied and isolated individuals who become selfless and committed to no one or nothing but the party. All social ties, whether family, friends, or acquaintances, cease to exist and the individual gets his sense of place in the world only from his membership in the party. This unfaltering loyalty is the psychological basis for domination, and it must be created for the movement to survive.
It seems that in order for a totalitarian movement to succeed, a mass of people adopt the mindset that they are superior to others who are not in the movement, whether they are outside the country or internal. Almost as if they are striving to achieve a higher cause which members of democracies or other forms of government are incapable of doing because of their biological, moral, or some other form of inferiority. The leader is responsible for instilling this mindset in them, whether it be artificially or naturally. By appealing to a group who is frustrated and distant from politics, membership in a totalitarian movement gives people a sense of purpose and an escape from the lack of personal accomplishment in their lives.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteGood summary of Arendt and I like the way you extend it to talk about how such movements create a sense of superiority. However, you use some of Arendt's phrases or sentences without putting quotes around them, which is kind of like plagiarism. I know it's only a blog post, but you still need to distinguish between your own words and those of the author.
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