"Things to Come", a 1936 British film about a coming apocalyptic war and subsequent rebirth of humanity, concludes with a call for the rebuilding of society on the basis that humanity has a duty to colonise the cosmos. We can seek happiness on earth or find significance in space.
Watching the film again on Youtube I was reminded of the old Soviet propaganda text "Moscow has a plan". A new world for which we must suffer today but which gives a significance to our lives. Present sacrifice for future generations.
These two pieces both dated from the mid thirties -- the same time frame as the early Nazi period. Triumph of Will fits well with the concept of struggle for an ideal future.
There's a religious resonance with the idea of present sacrifice for future glory. Admittedly the New Jerusalem as initially conceived was not "heaven above" but a real city on earth -- but the idea of a life of sacrifice and duty is consistent with the three great Western monotheistic religions. Where the totalitarians of the last century differed was the idea that human hands could build the New Jerusalem without supernatural help. In so doing they did dreadful things.
The link between the totalitarians was not specific policies but rather the overall concept of remaking the world to meet a master plan.
In that broad sense the actions of religious extremists, who seek to remake the world, can legitimately be seen as totalitarian.
1 comment:
I'm sorry, but that was totally inane. By the same token you could label Greenpeace a totalitarian organization, or the Harper Conservatives, both want to change the world toward their vision of the good. So do most organizations.
Write what you mean. If you don’t like Islamic extremists write about that. (I’m assuming that in writing your post you were not referring to the extreme, religiously-inspired nationalists who are violently forcing Arabs out East Jerusalem, for example. They too are trying to remake the world, specific neighbourhoods to be exact).
Don’t write abstract pieces equating a bunch of freaks living in Yemen with National Socialist Germany, or Stalin’s Russia – because all suffered from Utopian inspiration.
wsam
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