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Totalitarianism: a government system that permits no individual freedom, will, rights, and exercises absolute and centralized control on many aspects of life, not tolerating parties with different opinions. ( Linh Diep)

By: Erica Huang, Mica Green, Johnny Luo, and Linh Diep

Political spectrum: A scale classifying different political positions, ideologies, and parties. On the far left of the political spectrum is theoretically “Stalinist Communism”, and the far right is usually “Facism” or “Totalitarianism”. The society of the left side of the spectrum believes in “One for all, and all for one!”, whereas the right side believes in “Survival of the fittest.”

Bibliography/Works Cited

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TOTALITARIANISM

Defining ideology and political spectrum

Totalitarianism and the Individual

Ideology: A set of ideas and ideals that form the basis of political or economic theories and policies, which reflect the social needs of individuals, class, or group.

There is no place for individuals in a totalitarian state. Totalitarian

regimes sacrifice all individualism for the good of the state. Private lives become public, and all affairs are for the greater good of the nation. There is no such thing as “individual” only a group of people, functioning as a whole.

“There are to be no more private Germans, each is to attain significance only by his service to the state, and to find complete self-fulfillment in this service.” - Friedrich Sieburgh (Nazi writer).

The Nazi rule in Germany during the mid-20th century is an excellent example of totalitarian rule. The role of the individual was utterly in support of the state. Nothing happens in secret, there are no private lives. One lives for the state, and any activities occurring outside of it are considered as an extreme offense.

By: Linh Diep

Three Advantages and Disadvantages

Has totalitarianism been practiced in Canada?

Major Thinkers, Founders, Books

Advantage of Totalitarianism

Disadvantage of Totalitarianism

Canada has a representative democracy, however, some of the government’s actions are similar to a totalitarian government’s.

Promotes war, violence, and tyranny:

- since the people don’t get a say in the election of the leader, dictators are sooner or later overthrown with use of greater power/violence

- example: World War II was result of fascism or fascists dictatorship, which lead to Nazi Germany

Greater, stronger armies:

- single decision-making authority means more resources can be diverted to military without opposition

- nation is better able to defend itself from neighbouring countries with these aggressive armies

- MIT professor Darcon Acemoglu said in May 2009: dictatorships often arise from interests of military, thus they have greater ability to recruit great, powerful armies

Accusing:

- Conservative party frames opposition to corporate policies as espionage and treason

- When the NDP MP Megan Leslie opposed the Keystone XL pipeline on a trip to Washington, she was accused of treachery by the Conservative party

Privacy:

- Surveilling citizens invades their privacy

- According to the charter of rights and freedom, citizens of Canada are enabled the right to have freedom of expression

- The job of Inspector General for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service was taken out.

- Conservative legislation gave the RCMP, the Canadian Border Services Agency, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the authority to use torture-tainted information

- Bill C 30, part of Surveillance Inc, is a huge infringement on personal privacy, which enables warrantless access to personal internet activity

New/Modified Laws:

- The Federal Justice Department announced a new law to control gang activities in Canada

- Police were given more powers to investigate gang activities

- They are permitted to break the law in the course of undertaking their duties

- The anti-gang law gives the state of power to investigate any group of people it so chooses, and goes against the right of freedom of association in the Charter of Rights and Freedom.

Detain and Release Tactic:

- The G-20 summit in Toronto in June 2010 was the largest mass arrests in Canadian history

- Police arrested, and subsequently released over 900 people

Gary Meissner, the senior of the G-20 arrest failed to obtain a proper warrant before officers under his command barged into a University of Toronto gym

- Only 99 criminal charges were laid

-Derek Soberall, founder of the Occupy Canada web page, was a target of “detain and release” tactics. Fortunately, the courts freed him of all charges.

Lack of individual freedom/rights:

- citizens are restricted to what they're able to see/hear/read through media

- disagreement with government means punishment by being sent to labour camps

- no fundamental rights, freedom of expression, etc are democratically recognised

- example: Idi Amin, dictator in Uganda during 1970s became well known as "Butcher of Uganda" - he killed, tortured, imprisoned around 100 000 - 500 00 people during 8 year rule

Allows long-term, detailed social planning:

- capable of long-term detailed social planning, unlike democracy, since members of government have long, stable positions to enforce and plan these programs

- no opposition from other political parties enable quick action for enforcement

- example: during Stalin's Russia, people had access to much better medical care,10 years before National Health Service was introduced in Great Britain

The ideology of “totalitarianism” was formulated by Giovanni Amendola in 1923, describing Italian Fascism as an entirely separate system from the conventional idea of dictatorship. This was the idea of “total representation of the nation and total guidance of national goals.”, meaning that totalitarianism (as opposed to a dictatorship) supported it’s people rather than holding the state above all. It was an all for one and one for all rule. The concept came out of Nazism and Stalinism in the 1920s by Nazi scholar Carl Schmitt and Italian fascist John A . Armstrong, who later published the book “The politics of Totalitarianism” in 1961. Some of the most well renowned books on the subject of Totalitarianism are “Origins of totalitarianism” by Hannah Ardent (1958), “The disputed concept of totalitarianism” by Karl Dietrich Bracher (1981), and “The totalitarian enemy” by Franz Borkenau (1940).

Citizens are restricted from living their lives naturally:

- begin to lose interest in life due to forced philosophies on life

- may not be able to discover true meaning of life due to restrictions on how to live: no opposition towards government, complete obedience, no disagreement, only government-permitted media is accessible

Dictatorship establishes a strong government:

- no opposition and criticism allows all energy to be used to achieve goals of dictator (efficiency)

- consistency of purpose, clear policy (all states governed by single authority result in single, clear policies), unity of purpose

-when in desperate need to assemble all resources of country during a war, country is able to act quickly and efficiently - example: Stalin's Russia

By Johnny Luo

By : Linh Diep

By: Mica Green

Major symbols of Totalitarianism

The government's role in business

Small clip of an example of totalitarianism

Political Spectrum

- all companies and agencies belong to the state

- access to resources needed by state for any projects

- citizens dependent on state for jobs, which threaten citizens not to object or complain about the state, due to fear of being fired

- controls entire economy

Bundle of sticks and axe: This symbolizes jurisdiction and authority. Many past governments had used fasces to represent power and unity.

Nazi Symbol: The swastika is also a major symbol of totalitarianism since Nazism is similar to totaliarianism. The Nazi's used it to represent hate, antisemitism, violence, death, and murder.

The Red Star : The red star also represented totalitarianism , especially to Hungary, it symbolized communist dictatorship.

This comic is about the totalitarian ruler Kim Jong-Un and the execution of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek. When Kim Jong Un discovered that his uncle was planning to overthrow his regime, he executed him. It was believed that Jang Song Thaek was shot by machine guns, or fed to 120 hungry dogs. Nonetheless, Kim Jong Un did not regret anything he did towards his family member, who was once one of the most powerful men in North Korea. It was also known that Kim had killed every person related to his uncle, including his wife and children. Kim Jong-Un did this to warn the people of the country, that whoever dares stand in his way will be executed with no mercy.

- example: before Stalin’s Russia, economic system was mixed with owned and private-owned businesses and farms, he changed that by implementing the Five Year Plans and Collectivisation of Agriculture policies that put all production in state ownership

TOTALITARIANISM

- organisation Gosplan was responsible for drawing plans for each sector of economy- how much each farm, factory or mine should produce

By: Linh Diep

By: Erica Huang

By: Johnny Luo

by: Johnny Luo

Identify past/current examples of where this ideology is practiced

5 Basic Beliefs of Totalitarianism

Some past examples: Germany, Cuba, Italy, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Greece, and Russia/Soviet Union

Some current examples: North Korea, China, Iraq, Cuba, Egypt, Colombia, Vietnam, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Syria, Laos, Somalia, Iran, and Jordan

Absolute power of the State: They also believe in superiority and power. Totalitarian governments use this as justification of suppressing of other races.

Territory: Dictators want to expand as much of their territory so they can gain control over other countries.

Survival of the fittest: People believed in the theory “survival of the fittest.” They believe peace resembles weakness and violence is strength.

Strict social order: Social classes are strictly maintained in order to avoid protesting mobs or chaos.

Authoritarian leadership: To maintain the power of the State, there needs to be a single, charismatic leader with absolute authority.

By: Johnny Luo

By Erica Huang

Totalitarianism on the Political Spectrum

Staying in POWER

In theory, Totalitarianism can be considered both on the far left and the far right of the political spectrum. It lies somewhere in between communism (considered a leftist movement, yet in practice can be easily corrupted) and fascism (an oppressive, right wing style of government). Because a totalitarian regime is extremist, they are on the far left and the far right, past liberal or conservative. The reason that they can be placed on either end of the spectrum is because the decisions that a totalitarian government makes are for the nation, and can be either left wing or right wing depending on which would best benefit the state as a whole.

Totalitarian stays in power through :

  • propaganda campaigns
  • controlled mass media
  • political suppression
  • control over the economy
  • regulation and restriction
  • strict surveillance
  • extensive use of terro
  • education
  • military and armed services * secret police forces

In practice, Totalitarianism is almost always a right wing movement. They aim to be in control of the private and public lives of every citizen. They use a strong military to enforce strict observance to law, and the government or dictator has ultimate control over the citizens. They view each person as a part of their nation, not as an individual, and any attempt to be individualistic has drastic and harsh consequences, and they favour traditional ways and old-fashioned views over new ways of life.

By: Mica Green

By: Erica Huang

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