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<h2>totalism</h2>
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<p>TOTALITARIANISM </p>
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<p>by Chip Berlet</p>
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<p>(adapted from a forthcoming book)</p>
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<p>Totalitarianism is a zealous form of political
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organization new to this century's mass
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society. The style, strategies,
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tactics, and internal organizing practices of the
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totalitarian group were outlined by
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historian-philosopher Hannah Arendt in her book
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The Origins of Totalitarianism. </p>
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<p>In recent years there has been a revisionist
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interpretation of Arendt's work, linking nazism
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and communism as two sides of the same political
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coin, or claiming that all communist or Marxist
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movements are totalitarian, or that only Nazi and
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communist ideologies can become totalitarian.
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Arendt specifically repudiates this simplistic
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interpretation of her work when she writes
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"...ideologies of the nineteenth century are not
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in themselves totalitarian," and that although
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fascism and communism became "the decisive
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ideologies of the twentieth century they were
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not, in principle, any 'more totalitarian' than
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others." According to Arendt, the ideological
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victory of fascism and communism over other
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twentieth century belief structures was "decided
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before the totalitarian movements took hold of
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precisely these ideologies" as a vehicle for
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seizing and holding state power. </p>
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<p>Under totalitarianism there is strict control of
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all aspects of the life of the individual in the
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group through the use of coericive measures,
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physical or emotional. </p>
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<p>The allure of undeniably efficient and expedient
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totalitarianism is what Stalin succumbed to in
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his rush to create a socialist society. Not
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totalitarianism as defined by cyncial
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philosophical revisionists such as Jeane
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Kirkpatrick and Henry Kissinger, but
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totalitarianism in the original definition as an
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organizational form characterised by centralized
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control by an autocratic leader or hierarchy. </p>
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<p>Totalitarian groups are characterised by
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centralized control by an autocratic leader and
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surrounding hierarchy. </p>
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<p>Totalitarianism has left its mark on this
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century--and the vast majority of progressives
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around the world have learned an important lesson
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from the disasterous consequences, and have
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rejected the siren call of totalitarianism which
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infected both Hitler and Stalin in their zealous
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rush to power. Some elements of the NAP's
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methodology and style mirror the early stages of
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several European fascist movements in the 1930's. </p>
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<p>Totalitarian movements historically have shared a
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number of similarites: </p>
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<p>*** A methodological link between the
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psychological and the political which forms both
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a theoretical world-view and a justification for
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indoctrinating members in an effort to create a
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new consciousness through a unique and exclusive
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technique understood only by the group's leaders. </p>
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<p>*** Psychologically coercive techniques to
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manipulate members' views and actions. </p>
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<p>*** Attempts to establish hegemonic relationships
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with other similar political groups, and, failing
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that, attempts to undermine the group and
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establish parallel organizations. </p>
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<p>*** Virulent and unprincipled attacks on critics,
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including insults, agent-baiting, threats by
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attorneys and defamation lawsuits. </p>
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<p>*** Re-writing of the group's political and
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organizational history to meet current needs. </p>
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<p>*** A closed and covert hierarchical internal
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structure that is not necessarily congruent with
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the public organizational structure. </p>
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<p>*** Differentiation between internal in-group and
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external out-group reality, use of propoganda,
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and implementation of a "secret-society" style. </p>
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<p>These similarities do not change the fact that
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the totalitarian LaRouchite philosophy is
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apparently neo-fascist while the totalitarian
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Newman and Parente philosophies are apparently
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left-progressive, but it does mean that
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internally, all these groups have an
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authoritarian hierarchy whose existence is
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denied, they rely on psychologically-manipulative
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practices to control core members. These
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political groups match a cult paradigm and are
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far from democratic, despite outward claims and
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appearances. </p>
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<p>The propaganda and organizing techniques used by
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the internally-authoritarian and
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psychologically-manipulative cult groups run by
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Lyndon <span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span>, Fred Newman, and Geno Parente
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(and others) mirror totalitarianism. </p>
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<p>It is crucial to note the relationship of
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<span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span>, Parente, and Newman during the early
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1970's in light of their subsequent activities.
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All three white male political leaders viewed
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Marxist revolution through an egocentric prism
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which pre-supposed the centrality of one special
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individual's will in shaping history. All three
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used psychologically manipulative techniques to
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enforce obedience in the institutions they have
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built--institutions which sought political
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hegemony over other groups. All three groups
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share many elements of the a totalitarian
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movement which is correctly defined by its style,
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structure and methods not by its stated or
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apparent ideology. </p>
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<p>Arendt's theories were first published in the
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1950's, long before people like <span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span>, Newman
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and Parente arrived on the political scene, yet
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her analysis reads as if it were a study of the
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Executive Committee of the National Caucus of
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Labor Committees (the secret core leadership of
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the <span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span> network), the International Workers
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Party (the secret core leadership of the New
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Alliance Party, the Rainbow Lobby and the
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Institutes for Social Therapy), and the Communist
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Party (Provisional) (the secret core leadership
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of the National Labor Federation and its related
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fronts, the Eastern Service Workers, California
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Homemakers, etc.). </p>
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<p>Arendt discusses how totalitarian movements are
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built around a central fiction of a powerful
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conspiracy, (in the case of the Nazis, a
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conspiracy of Jews which dominates the world,)
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that requires a secretive counter-conspiracy be
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organized. Totalitarian groups organize the
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counter-conspiracy in a hierarchical manner which
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mimics the levels of membership and rituals of
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social and religious secret societies. </p>
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<p>According to Arendt, most people get their first
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glimpse of a totalitarian movement through its
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front organizations: </p>
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<p>"Sympathisers, who are to all appearances still
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innocuous fellow citizens in a nontotalitarian
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society, can hardly be called single-minded
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fanatics; through them, the movements make their
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lies more generally acceptable, can spread their
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propaganda in milder, more respectable forms,
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until the whole atmosphere is poisoned with
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totalitarian elements which are hardly
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recognizable as such but appear to be normal
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political reactions or opinions." (p. 367) </p>
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<p>
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<span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span>, Newman and Parente have spawned dozens
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of front organizations, each designed around some
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issue of mass appeal. For instance, <span class="PERSON">LaRouche</span>
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followers used the front device of Proposition 64
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in California to take a generalized fear over the
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spread of AIDS and steer it towards an acceptance
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of authoritarian methods such as quarantine
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isolation of suspected carriers and job
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discrimination. </p>
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<p>Arendt also explains that different
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constituencies react to propaganda messages from
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totalitarian groups in different ways: </p>
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<p>"The whole hierarchical structure of
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totalitarian movements, from naive
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fellow-travellers to party members, elite
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formations, and the intimate circle around the
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Leader, and the Leader himself, could be
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described in terms of a curiously varying mixture
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of gullibility and cynicism with which each
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member, depending upon his rank and standing in
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the movement, is expected to react to the
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changing lying statements of the leaders and the
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central unchanging ideological fiction of the
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movement." (p. 382) </p>
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<p>Arendt explains that average members of
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totalitarian groups need not believe all the
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statements made for public consumption, but they
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do believe "all the more fervently the standard
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cliches of ideological explanation." (p. 384) If
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a lie is detected by the mass of people or even
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the average member, it is dismissed as having
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been a tactical necessity which only further
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proves the cunning and wisdom of the leader. </p>
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<p>For the elite members, even the basic ideological
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explanations of the group are not necessarily
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believed, but are seen as "fabricated to answer a
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quest for truth" among the lower ranking
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followers. For the elite, facts are immaterial.
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Their loyalty is to the leader who embodies
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truth, and they require neither demonstration nor
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explanation of the leader's assertions: </p>
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<p>"Their superiority consists in their ability to
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dissolve every statement of fact into a
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declaration of purpose. In distinction to the
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mass membership which, for instance, needs some
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demonstration of the inferiority of the Jewish
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race before it can safely be asked to kill Jews,
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the elite formations understand that the
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statement, all Jews are inferior, means, all Jews
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should be killed." (p. 385) </p>
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<p>At the top is "the intimate circle around the
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Leader" for whom all statements are "mere devices
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to organize the masses, and they feel no
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compunction about changing them according to the
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needs of circumstances." (p. 385) </p>
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<p>The ultimate goal of a totalitarian movement, of
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course, is to propel the totalitarian leader
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toward total, ruthless, world domination.
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Political issues and positions are transitory
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tactical tools that move the organization and its
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leader toward power. Historically, when power is
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attained, the political allies and issues are
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betrayed. </p>
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<p>Leninist Democratic Centralism + totalitarianism = Stalinism </p>
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<p>Hitlerian Ultra-Racialist Fascism + totalitarianism = Nazism
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</p>
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