Quote:
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Originally Posted by BigJohn
Who lives under an authoritarian regime?
Not me, I do not think you do also? |
Hello John! As of today, we are all still in semi-functional democracies here in the West (LOL). That statement was in regard to dealing with rigid mindsets that adhere to fixed doctrine, whether "secular", "religious", or what have ye.
And it was comparing 1) my experiences with these mindsets today and the real dangers they pose to 2) my flashbacks (very visceral memories across many lifetimes) of having lived under various authoritarian regimes, with different levels of technology but perpetrating the same harms.
Totalitarianism comprises the self-same mindsets, the slavish adherence to doctrine, the rigidity, the scapegoating, and the suppression of all dissent. The difference is the suppression is typically enforced with the boot or the fist, and not just through scapegoating, shunning, and mockery.
Peace & blessings
7L
__________________
Bound by conventions, people tend to reach for what is easy.
Here we must be unafraid of what is difficult.
For all living beings in nature must unfold in their particular way
and become themselves despite all opposition.
-- Rainer Maria Rilke