The Totalitarianism in Modern Times - Essay Example

?The Totalitarianism in Modern Times Introduction In the past, people have experienced a type of government that centered all its power, ity, policies, rules, and regulations on the mighty and vigor of a dictator. A dictator is a person who solely runs the nation with a single government that rules every land and every freedom of the people as human beings and citizens of the country. During the World Wars, dictators such as Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union were the center for abolishment and annihilate their totalitarian regimes that have destroyed millions of lives and homes from different parts of the world (“Totalitarian Regimes”). However, despite the destruction of totalitarianism government, there are still totalitarian practices that are evident within the modern government of democracy and independence. Accordingly, this paper will recognize and discuss the origins of totalitarianism in order to compare and contrast some apparent manifestations of modern totalitarianism. Moreover, this paper will also identify some key points of evidences that modern totalitarianism is present in the current structure of democracy especially in the United States. The Origins of Totalitarianism The term totalitarianism was coined after the dreadful fight and suffering in the world wars, political revolution, holocaust, and fears. Hannah Arendt was a political philosopher who first handedly understands totalitarianism as a climatic pathology, which represents the practices of dictatorship, racism, colonialism, and also a lone government institution (Inceoglu). Accordingly, totalitarianism is a government that has the essence of evilness which tends to obtain and control exclusive possession of power and potency. Hence, the goals of totalitarian authority are to govern and reign with legal and lawful powers towards civil states and reorganizing the condition of the people (Baehr). Arendt suggested that the origins of the totalitarianism are rooted to the idea of establishing imperialism within the nation in order to serve as a substantial element for the growth and development of the country in terms political, economical, cultural, and racial structure. According to Inceoglu, imperialism was the only political and economical principle that will allow middle class Europeans to preserve their existence out from harm or danger of being in the state of poverty. Relatively, the main tenet of imperialism was to generate novel trades, increasing supply and demand for the progress and expansion of the economic system of the country (Inceoglu). Moreover, Arendt also implicated that totalitarianism was also the result of the total and overly malpractices of racism, in which it leads to mass killings or holocaust killings. For example, during the post-war of World War 1, Adolf Hitler blamed the Jews and Marxists for the lost of Germany in the war because of their lack of nationalist identity with Germany and disloyalty to their motherland, which served as the cause of their lose. Consequently, during the totalitarianism regime of Hitler, he persecuted the Jews, Marxists, and the communists of violated acts that are not being done by them. Hence, the domination of totalitarianism was structured on the idealities of imperialism and racism that have created dreadful sceneries in the past and modern times of humankind (Inceoglu). The Modern Totalitarianism and its Structure In these modern times, totalitarianism has long been existed after the world had experienced its terror and consequential results that brought humanity to a move of revolution and wars. Today, the practices of totalitarianism cannot be directly experienced by people but can be observed through the utilization of modern technologies such as computers and other software systems. Majority of the government in the countries are democratic and republican regimes that held the freedom and the power of the citizens of the country (Los; Mirny). Hence, the people have now experienced the independence of having equal rights as citizens and the ability to express oneself through the utilization of modern technology. However, modern technologies are not the only ally of the society or the citizens of the country when it comes to expressing their political judgments, but also the government had used the modern technologies to detect threats for national security purposes. Particularly, Mirny implicated that modern technologies served as a tool for people to interfere and destroy any signs or indications of totalitarianism regime in the mind and principles among politicians. Contradictorily, the United States government had used modern technologies as a tool for identifying suspicious figures or people that will serve as a threat to the safety and security of the people in the country. Consequently, the role of modern technology has become a new tool for political leaders to execute their desires and intentions to establish a regime of totalitarianism in the modern era (Wolf). In relation to the government idea of national security, citizens have protested the idea of the sophisticated manner of surveillance security because it violates the human rights of privacy and civil independence. For example, the face recognition system is one of the surveillance securities in the United States which allow government agencies (e.g. FBI and CIA) to take note of the faces among people through their distinct facial marks and indications. Accordingly, this certain surveillance security can be used within political protests that will capture the faces of the people who attended the rallies and be held responsible for any national violations or damages that will happen without any further investigations. However, the government had assured the people that this type of surveillance will not be used to determine activists but only to track down those who have a criminal offense. Hence, the utilizations of modern technologies are still part of an increasing debate as a tool for having a totalitarian government (Gross). Conclusion There are different ways of how political power and authority can bring change within the society and the country. The regime of totalitarianism was the source of inhuman maltreatments and was the substantial approach among political leaders who have the thirst for more vigor over the people. Totalitarianism is considered to be a government that has filled the world with terror, wars, and millions of death because of the political ideality for sovereign power all over the world. Through the lessons learned during times of World Wars, people are very vigilant to the structure of their modern government in order to evade and destroy any indications of totalitarianism in their country. Hence, modern societies have become active in their political and civil rights in order to preserve democracy of freedom and destroy any chances of having a totalitarian government. Works Cited Baehr, Peter. Hannah Arendt, Totalitarianism, and the Social Sciences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012. Print. Gross, Grant. “Regulation of Facial Recognition May Be Needed, US Senator Says.” PCWorld. IDG Consumer & SMB, 2012. Web. 08 Nov 2012. . Inceoglu, M. Cagri. “Arendt’s Critique of the Nation-State in The Origins of Totalitarianism.” Journal of Yasar University 3.10 (2008): 1331-1344. Print. Los, Maria. “The Technologies of Total Domination.” Surveillance & Society 2.1 (2004): 15-38. Print. Mirny, Mikhail. “Freedom of Speech, Democracy and the Internet: Targeting International Development Programs Toward Building Capacity of Online Media.” Masters Diss. Georgetown University, 2004. PDF file. “Totalitarian Regimes in Germany, Italy, and the Soviet Union.” La Habra High School. La Habra High School, n.d. Web. 08 Nov 2012. . Wolf, Naomi. “The New Totalitarianism of Surveillance Technology.” The Guardian. The Guardian News and Media, 2012. Web. 08 Nov 2012. . Read More