Nashi: Pro-regime Youth Groups in Russia

In order to understand why a totalitarian government employs such methods, one first needs to understand the motivations of the state, in this case, the motivation is the preservation of the state, at

In a totalitarian dictatorship there is an official ideology, covering all aspects of a man’s existence to which everyone living in that society must adhere. A totalitarian dictatorship is also a single mass party led typically by one man the “dictator” and has a system of terroristic police control in order for the dictator to remain in power [doc 1]. Totalitarian governments also had total control over the military, economy and means of communication such as newspapers and propaganda.

At times, entire populations are sheltered from the rest of the world and its ‘pleasures’, to comply with an principle such as egalitarianism or socialism, i.e. communism in North Korea, and formerly the Soviet Union. These very same people are led to believe in blind faith that their society is always right, and therefore perfect. Unfortunately, the government in Anthem abuses

The struggle against a totalitarian government is unsurprisingly a frequent theme in dystopian literature. Almost by definition the genre is set in a futuristic society characterized by extreme oppression and despondence. Malevolent autocrats at the helms of totalitarian governments have, throughout our history, been responsible for innumerable travesties. This young century alone has witnessed the evil of Bashar al-Assad, Omar Bashir, and Saddam Hussein. Probing only slightly deeper into our collective memory, we are acquainted with the reigns of Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, Josef Stalin, Hideki Tojo, Francisco Franco, and (of course) Adolf Hitler. The last hundred years have undeniably been bloody, and it is therefore only natural that

Despite the primitive backwardness of this collectivist society, the power of its suppressive methods must be recognized. The dictators have succeeded in subjugating the populace in ways that go beyond the stifling policies of such murderous tyrants as Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot. These real-life collectivist rulers forced millions of human beings to surrender their individuality in practice. The dictatorial regimes of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Communist China, and Communist Cambodia forced their citizens, in action, to serve the state. Individuals had no right to their own lives, and their actions were brutally controlled; they were slaves of Nazism or Communism.

Hannah Arendt, the author of The Origins of Totalitarianism, talks about totalitarianism and what it looked like. She describes how the Nazi’s ran their government by dehumanizing an individual, group and how they took control over the masses in Germany. In this piece of work, the final chapter “Total Domination”, also contributes to what it means to be under the rule of a totalitarian government. She goes on about how total domination can be achieved if “every person can be reduced to a never-changing identity of reactions” (Hannah Arendt’s “Total Domination”). Recently, eastern countries have had revolutions because of totalitarian style governments doing whatever they please. Two recent revolutions from Syria and Libya have shown that these types of governments will not be tolerated. Even Egypt has had its fair share of trouble as well. Hannah Arendt would have applauded the recent revolutions in Syria and Libya because in Libya it began when a human rights lawyer was arrested, both were done to fight for political change, and in Syria it was also done for a better economy. Arendt’s idea of total domination cannot be seen in Hosni Mubarak’s rule over Egypt.

The power any citizens have, if any, while living under the ruling of a totalitarian system are very limited. Although they feel like they are part of a society like group, the chance of them becoming someone of importance to the ‘society’ is zero. Living under the totalitarian system, the citizens are expected to obey all rules, and deal with the fact that the system will do anything, such as using intimidation and manipulation, to remain in power. All of these themes are strongly demonstrated in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and George Orwell’s 1984. In both novels, the citizens are ruled and watched over by someone socially higher than them in their “community” that have the power to monitor and control one’s every move and

“We can't be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders. It means we can't be controlled. And it means that no matter what they do, we will always cause trouble for them.” (Roth, 2012) Victoria Roth describes the way people act in a society, individuals are different from one another, and therefore have different beliefs, ideas, and thoughts. When a ruler comes into power, he wants to make the whole community think as he does, but the real problem comes when he abuses of his power to take control. In this way totalitarian governments and rulers have arose, and have intended to influence in the society to achieve their goals. A totalitarian leader controls

Freely operating pressure groups are essential to the effective functioning of liberal democracy in three main ways: they serve as vital intermediary institutions between government and society; they assist in the dispersal of political power; and they provide important counterweights to balance the concentration of power.

The passages from Pauley chapter 5 and Williamson chapter 6 shows how the three authoritarian empires [German Reich, Italy, Soviet Union] planned to maintain power for centuries. All three nations followed two principles to ensure their regimes lasted, turning coercion into consent and using Youth Groups to indoctrinate the future generations. The German Reich also created a new world order Volksgemeinschaft ‘People’s Community’, but only the racially pure could be a part of it.

In a world where individuals feel suppressed by the government under which they were born into, it is important to understand that this suppression can be avoided. On numerous occasions throughout world history, suppressed citizens have sojourned to new countries to fight against this suppression. Citizens of Great Britain did so in order to seek religious freedom, as well as Syrian refugees in today's society. What I am trying to say is that some governments have rules implemented that are not well-liked by its citizens. These rules, however, must be followed by all citizens living in the State. In this paper, I will argue that citizens do, in fact, agree to a contract of the society in which they dwell. I will also argue the point that these citizens always have the option to shy away from the rules of these suppressing governments at any time. I will incorporate real-life examples to better explain and defend the arguments presented.

When the government’s lies and propaganda are embedded in everyday life, how can one find the strength to rebel? The theme of totalitarianism is prevalent in both George Orwell’s 1984, and Zamyatin Yevgeny’s We. The authority ruling over the inhabitants in We, require that the entire city be made out of glass, that names be made out of a consonant or vowel and a set of numbers. The inner party ruling over the inhabitants in 1984, require that people use Newspeak, believe they are satisfied, and live with a telescreen that cannot be turned off.

Throughout history, efforts have been made towards eliminating governmental oppression of its citizens, yet oppressive governments continue to exist in today's society. An oppressive government is not necessarily that of a socialist or communist society but rather any form of government can be guilty of injustice against its citizens. Karl Marx’s concept of a communist society, the basis of many oppressive governments, is ideal in a theoretical sense, and in a perfect world would likely thrive better than a democratic society. However, that remains the case in only a utopian society. When executed in modern society under a power-hungry leader, a peaceful form of government turns to one of brutality and oppression.

The slavophiles began moving Russia towards nationalism as previously stated. But by the the twentieth century they certainly were still in transit. The slavophiles were purely a movement of the elites. It had no origins or members in the lower classes and certainly not the peasants. In many ways actually the peasants were hostile to the Slavophiles. The romanticism attributed to the peasants was far from the truth. Their lives of folk simplicity and communal perfection was actually a lifee of subsistence farming and dealing with corrupt village elders.18 This only reinforces the reality that the Slavophiles were creating Russian national identity, or imagining it. Slavophiles were trying to create a form of nationalism where there was still

Schedler argues that authoritarian regimes – particularly since the end of the Cold War era have been replaced by electoral authoritarian regimes that combine the façade of electoral democracy with systemic abuse of democratic procedures. They have reproduced institutional arrangements present in the democratic system, such as elections, the legislative and judicial powers, and independent local governments. However, these institution creations are never meant to become autonomous, rather manipulative in order to be instruments of pretentious delegation of power from the executive.