Liberalism is, by a certain if unorthodox definition, a totalitarian construction in the modern times. It does not resemble the mythos humanity has literised around 'totalitarianism' to be sure, but Ic think that totalitarianism cannot truly be captured without some reference to the spirit (or lacking spirit) of society. Ic disagreed with Hannah Arendt's characterisation of fascism as banal, not her formulation of evil. Banality is the death of the human will. Did some persons have their will extinguished by fascism? Of course. But the fascists also had very vociferous wills of their own. As the title of the film suggests, they won the Triumph of the[ir] Will.
Ic posit that liberalism is the banalification of the totality of society. With the cooperation of government and market, with the uncontested rule of both, for once mankind has almost no control, nature has almost no control. For once, the industrial machine and its markets dictates to the natural order. The market is far more frightening than any government of man or totalitarian, omnipotent Artificial Intelligence. It is souleß, anarchic, and plodding, it is every way the opposite of a government and an AI.
Societally, liberalism destroys all hope for any kind of real change, especially change which comes from the folc. What are folc to do, then? Many of them will opportunistically betray humanity for a midly better position within the totalistic order. And from here Ic ask, which is worse: one Big Brother, or billions of twisted Dear Cousins and Meanwell Merchants? Which has more reach and far more dire consecwences, a single authoritarian government (institutions run by men are logically unable to be total-itarian, no matter how brutal or widespread their control may be), or a mobilised totalitarian society? Society, let us be clear, refers not only to the human communal element, but the non-human social and ideological aspects as well (videlicet the market, surveillance, culture, et cetera).
to endan, Ic believe the literary portrayal of dystopian totalitarianism to be wildly dramatised, and plainly inaccurate in its aßumptions of how or why a totalitarian society would function the way it would. Ic hope that fictional literature on totalitarianism one day adopts a more realistic approach and premises in the construction of its stories. One more thought Ic have as Ic am typing this is whether Hobbes' theory of absolutism might have played any role in the development of modern totalitarian society, or perhaps what Ic am thinking is more in the vein of whether Hobbes could be read in this way? Ic have not read any Hobbes, so its completely poßible what Ic am wondering could be utterly baseleß. Ic suppose that Ic will have to leave the thought here until Ic can investigate it further.
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