Examples Of Totalitarianism In 1984

According to Merriam-Webster, totalitarianism is defined as “the political concept that the citizen should be totally subject to an absolute state authority.” This concept has been used in countries including North Korea, the Soviet Union, and Iraq, by the leaders, Kim Jong Un, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein, respectively. In addition, totalitarianism is a prevalent concept in George Orwell’s 1984, due to the repressive nature of the Party. This is exemplified in their use of censorship, indoctrination, secret police, and other methods of absolute control. The totalitarian government shown in North Korea, Iraq, the Soviet Union, as well as in George Orwell’s 1984, is unethical and infringes on the people’s basic rights as stated by “The

In North Korea, citizens have no civil liberties and are constantly oppressed by the absolute government under which they are ruled. A prime example of the North Korean government’s totalitarian methods is the State Security Department. The State Security Department (SSD) is one of the chief agencies security and intelligence agencies in North Korea. Inside the SSD, are secret police forces, tasked with enforcing the views of the government, which promote the establishment of the Kim family rule. These secret police forces survey civilians, along with investigating political and economic crimes. In addition to the secret police, North Korea also uses heavy methods of censorship including the regime’s sole ownership of all domestic news outlets, the reservation of Internet for the elites, and restriction of arts. These autocratic practices greatly infringe on the basic rights of

It shared key elements, including the methods of totalitarian control with which, citizens were deprived of basic rights and autocratic, oppressive views were enforced. For example, similar to the secret police forces in North Korea, the thought police was constantly surveying citizens, watching for political and economic crimes for which they were quick to punish. Next, parallelly to the USSR, in which children were indoctrinated into claiming loyalty to the government, the Party in 1984 changes information of the past to suit their false claims. This information is taught to students and children who grow up in a society of lies, unlike that of the USSR. Lastly, similar to Iran, brutal methods of torture and persecution were relied upon. Anyone who even posed interference with the maintenance of the Party’s absolute rule was tortured until their loyalty to Big Brother was unquestionable and reintegrated into society. This is not unlike Iran, under Saddam Hussein’s rule, as Saddam Hussein relied on torture to reaffirm beliefs of the government and only once that was accomplished could prisoners walk