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Inverted Totalitarianism


“Thus the elements are in place: a weak legislative body, a legal system that is both compliant and repressive, a party system in which one party, whether in opposition or in the majority, is bent upon reconstituting the existing system so as to permanently favor a ruling class of the wealthy, the well-connected and the corporate, while leaving the poorer citizens with a sense of helplessness and political despair, and, at the same time, keeping the middle classes dangling between fear of unemployment and expectations of fantastic rewards once the new economy recovers. That scheme is abetted by a sycophantic and increasingly concentrated media; by the integration of universities with their corporate benefactors; by a propaganda machine institutionalized in well-funded think tanks and conservative foundations; by the increasingly closer cooperation between local police and national law enforcement agencies aimed at identifying terrorists, suspicious aliens and domestic dissidents.” (Wolin).

In this quote, Wolin identifies the elements that make the current political system of the United States a prime candidate for the title of inverted totalitarianism. He cites the current state of the legislative body, the legal system, the political parties and their agendas, the media, universities, think tanks, and law enforcements as evidence in his claim that the United States is well on its way to becoming an inverted totalitarian state and considers all of these different elements to be in cooperation with each other in creating such a situation.

I chose this specific passage because it wasn’t until I reached this passage that I realized that Wolin wasn’t being a cynic or an alarmist but was simply describing the very dysfunctional system we all live in. It became very clear that although we may not realize this, the fact of the matter is that our current political system bears more resemblance to an Orwellian dystopia than it does to a democratic system where the people’s voice carries weight. This reality has become even clearer in the past year as we have seen the id of our nation and party loyalties drive an election and choose a leader who unapologetically favors the wealthy, targets and instills fears about immigrants, and keeps the average citizen placated with hopes of a recovered economy. This combined with the increase in news agencies that will go to any lengths to push “alternative facts” and spread propaganda makes it impossible to ignore that the world Wolin is describing is our very own.
What’s especially tragic is that despite having been published in 2003, this article is still very much relevant today, which is clear evidence that in more than a decade, things have not improved and future seems bleaker than ever.


Works cited:
Wolin, Sheldon. “Inverted Totalitarianism.” The Nation, The Nation.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 7, 2017 at 10:31 PM

    I agree with you I think Wolin clearly described the term inverted totalitarianism. It describes the situation we're living today. Although we're living in democracy looks like it's not because of the way laws are imposed by the president and his party. Citizens have to follow their mandated laws and obey their rules.

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