Parallels to Totalitarianism

I generally avoid comparisons between the American democracy and pre-World War II Germany, but Politeia features a thought-provoking essay that hits extremely close to home, in every sense: "A U.S. Weimar Rep? Red Flags (III): the Lessons":

In the USA since the 1960s many traditional American ideas, values and attitudes have been eroded, and capitalism is being replaced by mixed economies. Religion and morality has less influence on behavior; there is a trend from individualism toward collectivism, relativism and socialism; there is greater acceptance of subjective ideas; there is greater catering to the fears and emotions of factions; and factions are becoming more alienated. These changes have parallels in Germany of the 1930s. A key parallel is the replacement of rational thought with feelings and emotions. Another is how the vast majority of people simply absorb the thoughts presented by the educational establishment, the media, and the entertainment pop culture.

This is the third in a series, "A U.S. Weimar Republic? Red Flags: Our Republic" (click here and here for further reading).

My sense is that we're more likely to see Leninist-style vanguard proletarianism. See, for example, my earlier essay, "The Ideological Foundations of the Obama Phenomenon."

(Note: Neither Germany nor Russia experienced the long cultural development toward pragmatism and rationalism that marks the Anglo-American historical model. This is another reason why I generally avoid comparisons between the U.S. and 20th century totalitarianism. That said, we're at such an extraordinary period in history, it pays to rethink our models of development and socialization of culture.)