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I think inverted totalitarianism is not such a good term for marketing that the US is not a democracy. Inverted - reversed - totalitarianism could be lots of things, included democracy.

Successful totalitarianism perhaps, or Modern totalitarianism. Even New totalitarianism would be better then inverted.

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by A swedish kind of death on Sun Jan 31st, 2010 at 05:12:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Neo-totalitarianism? Haven't heard that one before.

I admit "inverted totalitarianism" is a bit awkward. But I think it's pretty clear that it means a variety of totalitarianism, which by definition excludes democracy.

As for "successful totalitarianism": I think that at some point Wolin suggests that in the same way that despotism is the corrupted form of monarchy, classical totalitarianism (e.g. Nazism) was the "corrupted" form of inverted totalitarianism.

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by Alexander on Sun Jan 31st, 2010 at 06:15:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Though I understand, I think, why Wolin uses 'totalitarianism', since there's effective control of the entire system, the academia/media/political system. However, as a persuasive term it has a hard time getting past first base with 'regular folks'. I mean, why bring Hitler/Stalin connotations/confusions into your term for 'whatever it is' the U.S. has become and/or is increasingly becoming?

fairleft
by fairleft (fairleftatyahoodotcom) on Sun Jan 31st, 2010 at 11:43:52 PM EST
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