Political theorists such as Hannah Arendt have noted that the members of a totalitarian state “can be reached by neither experience nor argument; identification with the movement and total conformism seem to have destroyed the very capacity for experience.” At this point, you may think that our current western liberal democracy is too strong to fall under the influence of someone like Hitler. But is that the case, and is the process currently underway?
Arendt argues that the successes of totalitarian movements hinges dismissal of two illusions commonly believed and are in the hearts of current democratic states. And as the evidence from the 2016 US elections suggests. They are exactly what Trump relied on to win.
The first is that totalitarian
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From data gathered from 26 countries in North America and Europe, including the US, Greece, Italy, and Spain. Which found a direct correlation in the increase in unemployment and the increase in support for the populist, anti-establishment and in many cases extremist parties. Along with the increase in the distrust of existing political institutions and the widespread indifference of the people to the political climate of their …show more content…
Trump paints images of unthinkable horrors happening in these “inner cities”. These stories of horrors remained one of the pillar stones of Trump’s campaign, as he conveys the imaginary “wild disorder” that was caused by the African Americans, the immigrants and the Muslims. In truth, before the 2016 elections, the rate of violent crimes in the US was at an all-time low. Yet Trump continues to rant about the crime wave of historic proportion in the US. This is to paint the picture of a chaotic reality in order to legitimise and switch the mob’s value systems to that of his own.
This bears an uncanny resemblance to the rise to power of the Nazi Regime. Be it with the creation of the enemy within, whether it be the the Jews or the non-whites or non-Christians who are taking the jobs away from the middle and lower classes. Along with the creation of the imagery of a country ruled by dishonest politicians without the people’s interests at heart, needing liberation from the anti-establishment populist demagogues. Be that Weimar Germany or the US before the 2016