Reply #75: Brezinzski suggests totalitarian societies ebb and flow. [View All]

[OnyxCollie]

Noting that totalitarianism in the past has seemed largely irrational, it argues that the rationalistic routines
of the indispensable managers of the industrial society will necessarily transmit themselves to the
totalitarian leadership and gradually effect a fundamental transformation of the system itself. This
transmission will be aided by the fact that the totalitarian movement has become highly bureaucratized
and therefore shares in many of the operational patterns associated with running the industrial machine.
Furthermore, it is argued, the totalitarian movement itself has become increasingly staffed by the
managerial-bureaucratic elements to whom party membership means no more than an important club
association necessary to satisfy career ambitions.

Totalitarianism, in the extreme form of this argument, is thus to disappear imperceptibly and
unintentionally. As stability, predictability and overall rationality set in, fear, terror, and arbitrariness will
fade. Mass enthusiasm and passionate unanimity will give way to disagreements on matters of expertise,
and hence also on policy.

Brzezinski, Z. (1956). Totalitarianism and rationality. The American Political Science Review, 50(3), 751-763.

C. Wright Mills supports this:

C. Wright Mills (1956, as cited in Joseph, 1982) proposed a three-level pluralistic theory
of power: at the top was the executive branch of government, along with corporations and the
defense industry; the middle level was composed of interest groups where the pluralistic model
of competition actually occurred; and the bottom level held the general public. Seeking to
differentiate his theory from Marxism, which stated that the economic sector held all the power,
Mills saw power as being equal among the three groups in the top level (Mills, 1956, as cited in
Joseph, 1982). “Mills maintained that political, military, and economic elites all exercised a
considerable degree of autonomy, that they were often in conflict, and that they acted in concert
only on certain occasions” (Mills, 1956, as cited in Joseph, 1982, p. 250).

Joseph, L. (1982). Corporate political power & liberal democratic theory. Polity, 15(2), 246-267.

And just so we understand what we're talking about, here is is Brzezinski's definition of totalitarianism:

Totalitarianism is a system where technologically advanced instruments of political power are wielded without
restraint by centralized leadership of an elite movement, for the purpose of effecting a total social revolution,
including the conditioning of man, on the basis of certain arbitrary ideological assumptions proclaimed by the
leadership, in an atmosphere of coerced unanimity of the entire population.

This is what occurred after 9/11, and what led us to attack and invade an oil-rich country which had not attacked us and had no ability to attack us.

Brzezinski says restraints on political power will fall when a totalitarian government takes over:

These restraints can be broadly listed in three categories: 1) the
direct restraints, expressed through pacta conventa such as the English Magna Carta or the Polish Nihil
novi .... , the Bill of Rights, constitutional guarantees, a rule of law, or even the broad consensus of
tradition which rules out certain types of conduct, such as the use of violence;
2) the indirect restraints which stem from the pluralistic character of all large-scale societies, and which
necessitate adjustment and compromise as the basis for political power, e.g., the churches, the economic
interests, professional, cultural or regional pressure groups, which all impede the exercise of unrestrained
power; and 3) the natural restraints, such as national character and tradition, climatic and geographical
considerations, kinship structure and particularly the primary social unit, the family. These also act to
restrain the scope of political power.

For those who dismiss totalitarianism because they expect to see jack boots and swastikas, well, why the fuck would that happen? Do those things have any relation to the US? Would I expect the President to give a speech in German? Hell no. Nor would I expect Jews to be burned in ovens. Race is not the main motivating factor. It's OIL.