tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post488177496692611940..comments2024-03-17T00:10:44.022+00:00Comments on From Arse To Elbow: Star Wars as Counterfactual HistoryDavid Timoneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03568348438980023320noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-15188451952107783092016-02-07T12:16:57.322+00:002016-02-07T12:16:57.322+00:00"And Hitler didn't exactly have to follow..."And Hitler didn't exactly have to follow legal process before The Night of the Long Knives."<br /><br />You assume here that the 'lawful nations' do not commit acts of murder. You confuse the rule of law with the ten commandments.<br /><br />Authoritarianism and tyranny are related to totalitarianism but I am talking specifically about totalitarianism.Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-44193676514845700642016-02-04T18:58:26.955+00:002016-02-04T18:58:26.955+00:00Come on, so the Moscow Show Trials and the rest of...Come on, so the Moscow Show Trials and the rest of the Yezhovschina took place under the 'rule of law'??!!!!! And Hitler didn't exactly have to follow legal process before The Night of the Long Knives.<br /><br />I think you're confusing authoritarianism and tyranny. <br /><br />Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-23733202140529733992016-02-04T17:08:26.312+00:002016-02-04T17:08:26.312+00:00I would also point out that the final solution was...I would also point out that the final solution was carried out only after a thorough debate within the Nazi establishment about the Nuremberg laws. The Nazi officials were obsessed about preceding from those laws.Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-78178799463339445582016-02-04T17:03:51.883+00:002016-02-04T17:03:51.883+00:00I tend to be even more pessimistic than you Igor. ...I tend to be even more pessimistic than you Igor. I think most people will embrace the totalitarianism because it stops terrorists and if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. I think technological advancement makes totalitarianism absolutely inevitable, whether it be socialist version or a capitalist one. I guess at least the socialist one won't be about controlling those you are exploiting etc etc etc.<br /><br />I would strongly disagree that Stalinist Russia was some sort of wild-west where the rule of law didn't exist. In fact I would go further, the rule of law is the fundamental basis of totalitarianism!<br /><br />If we look historically at those societies where the rule of law doesn't actually exists in any form we would recognise, communal villages, tribes, nomads etc, the concept of totalitarianism doesn't even seem appropriate. which opens up too many other questions in my mind! <br /><br />And anyway, no revolution would ever respect the rule of law!Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-6639337219430013672016-02-03T21:00:19.996+00:002016-02-03T21:00:19.996+00:00I think one problem is that 'totalitarianism&#...I think one problem is that 'totalitarianism' was largely an ideological creation which was designed to smear communism by associating it with Nazi Germany. I agree that the 'control' so-called totalitarian regimes exercised was limited, but the common factor between Hitler and Stalin was that they entirely abandoned the rule of law, making decisions over life and death seeming on a whim, and therefore making their authority absolute through terror. Fortunately, in the medium term, the chaos, destruction and uncertainty brought about by such methods is counter-productive.<br /><br />You may well have a point when you say that 'totalitarianism' can be made more likely by technology. Forget sci-fi speculations like 1984 though, 'totalitarianism' is probably going to come from the a mixture of the creation of auto-suggestion through ever-present advertising, sponsorship, and the inability to escape from the influence on culture, the 'end of history' thesis which asserts that political change is in effect impossible, and the utter atomisation and alienation of people who are encouraged constantly to see their interests as opposed to others, and denied the chance to spontaneously assert comradeship. Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-70876330992932433782016-02-03T18:26:01.183+00:002016-02-03T18:26:01.183+00:00"would a totalitarian regime implode under th..."would a totalitarian regime implode under the impact of modern technologies?"<br /><br />Given recent developments I think modern technologies make totalitarian regimes more of a possibility.<br /><br />I read a book some years ago, I can't remember which. The book made the point that so called totalitarian regimes had very little control over the the areas under its jurisdiction.<br /><br />I think modern technology solves that problem.<br /><br />So I see a definite move to totalitarianism. This is why all those dystopian sc-fi's make more sense to me than the more Utopian ones.Herbie Causes Extinctionnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312853715123370916.post-54693456915735963462016-02-02T19:19:35.123+00:002016-02-02T19:19:35.123+00:00Excellent. Worth reading for the Caplan quote alon...Excellent. Worth reading for the Caplan quote alone.Igor Belanovnoreply@blogger.com