I'm just curious as to the reception of these particular idea and concepts are, and their application into research and diagnosis of the political structural situation presently in the united states.
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
Inverted totalitarianism is a term coined by political philosopher Sheldon Wolin to describe what he believes to be the emerging form of government of the United States. Wolin believes that the United States is increasingly turning into an illiberal democracy, and he uses the term "inverted totalitarianism" to illustrate the similarities and differences between the United States governmental system and totalitarian regimes such as Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union.
Inverted totalitarianism and managed democracy
Wolin believes that the United States (which he refers to using the proper noun "Superpower", to emphasize the current position of the United States as the only superpower) has been increasingly taking on totalitarian tendencies, as a result of the transformations that it has undergone during the military mobilization required to fight the Axis powers, and during the subsequent campaign of containing the Soviet Union during the Cold War:
While the versions of totalitarianism represented by Nazism and Fascism consolidated power by suppressing liberal political practices that had sunk only shallow cultural roots, Superpower represents a drive towards totality that draws from the setting where liberalism and democracy have been established for more than two centuries. It is Nazism turned upside-down, βinverted totalitarianism.β While it is a system that aspires to totality, it is driven by an ideology of the cost-effective rather than of a βmaster raceβ (Herrenvolk), by the material rather than the βideal.β
According to Wolin, there are three main ways in which inverted totalitarianism is the inverted form of classical totalitarianism.
Whereas in Nazi Germany the state dominated economic actors, in inverted totalitarianism, corporations through political contributions and lobbying, dominate the United States, with the government acting as the servant of large corporations. This is considered "normal" rather than corruption.
*While the Nazi regime aimed at the constant political mobilization of the population, with its Nuremberg rallies, Hitler Youth, and so on, inverted totalitarianism aims for the mass of the population to be in a persistent state of political apathy. The only type of political activity expected or desired from the citizenry is voting. Low electoral turnouts are favorably received as an indication that the bulk of the population has gi
... keep reading on reddit β‘I read his history of political thought recently (Politics and Vision). It's a fascinating book that covers vast ground. Wolin is critical of different traditions, from positivism to Rawlsian liberalism. He argues that vision is important in political theory at the end of the book. He also critiques what he calls "inverted totalitarianism" in the US, the supremacy of economic power centers.
Yet he also seems to reject major tenets of the Marxian tradition, and believes in a sort of left-wing, democratic politics (more localized, not exactly revolutionary in scope and ambition). I was curious what people think of his work more broadly, Politics and Vision more specifically.
https://youtu.be/-wlHB6jSe7s
" BILL MOYERS: Is this what you meant when you wrote that βevery one of this countryβs primary institutions is antidemocratic β antidemocratic in spirit, design and operation.β
SHELDON WOLIN: It is. It is.
BILL MOYERS: Thatβs a strong statement. βEvery one of the countryβs primary institutions?β Meaning?
SHELDON WOLIN: Yes. Meaning educational institutions, large-scale educational institutions, meaning institutions of government, bureaucratic institutions, major institutions of media and communication, major institutions of a recognizably economic kind as well. And I would β and, I think, large cultural institutions, too. Again, something like the media."
http://billmoyers.com/content/sheldon-wolin/
https://youtu.be/-wlHB6jSe7s
" BILL MOYERS: Is this what you meant when you wrote that βevery one of this countryβs primary institutions is antidemocratic β antidemocratic in spirit, design and operation.β SHELDON WOLIN: It is. It is. BILL MOYERS: Thatβs a strong statement. βEvery one of the countryβs primary institutions?β Meaning? SHELDON WOLIN: Yes. Meaning educational institutions, large-scale educational institutions, meaning institutions of government, bureaucratic institutions, major institutions of media and communication, major institutions of a recognizably economic kind as well. And I would β and, I think, large cultural institutions, too. Again, something like the media."
http://billmoyers.com/content/sheldon-wolin/
