Totalitarianism

[Martin Hash]

There are many dangers of collectivism but the most insidious is totalitarianism. Collectivism demands that individuals give up their right to make decisions for themselves, instead embracing a vague “higher authority” ideal. America’s “individual freedoms” concept, that rejects inherited or ecclesiastic authority, was a radical experiment that is still resented by group-think regimes today. There is a lot of historical precedence for the fear of impending totalitarianism wrapped in collectivist moralizing. Once individuals have been convinced that the Higher Authority will be making decisions, individuals stop thinking for themselves and instead wait for instructions. Rather the Higher Authority is a benevolent committee looking out for the individual’s best interests, or a selfish dictator, the individual cannot know. And since consensus is difficult to achieve in committees, the eagerness of strong-willed people with totalitarian impulses eventually prevail. Liberty, once lost, is very difficult to regain.