On Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism refers to a kind of government that is autocratic, meaning there is only one head of the government and state. Here, the state is involved in all social aspects. These aspects include the day to day life of the individual citizens. This type of government aims to control all matters in the society. Not only social matters like economic and political but also the lifestyle ( values, attitudes, beliefs, etc.) of its citizens. It seeks to eradicate the distinction between the state and the society.

Thus, everything the individual owns is the property of the state. Not only does the leadership have the sole control over the government system that includes military, economic, education, and police but it also has the absolute control over communications system. Meaning there is no freedom of expression exercised like in a non-totalitarian government.

Although totalitarian countries may have varying characteristics, there a couple of things common among them. First is the aim to address the aspect of life to realize their ideals and the presence of a dictator through which the citizens are led to the lifestyle in realizing those ideals.

And since there is a monopoly in everything, businesses in a totalitarian government is different from businesses in a non-totalitarian government. While competition is fluctuating in a capitalist country, competition is unheard of in a totalitarian country since there is monopoly in businesses. There is no place for small businesses to grow. Thus, small businesses are harmed by the government instead of being helped. Free trade which is the backbone in capitalism, is non-existent in totalitarianism.

Thus, businesses have the freedom to increase the prices of their goods and people have no consumer rights. Since there is no competing brand, consumers have no other choice. Unlike in a capitalist society, where consumers have the privilege to the best products, consumers in a totalitarian society can only have the goods made available to them by the government. So instead of helping the community, businesses tend to destroy the people. Venezuela, although not a totalitarian country faces the same dilemma with the leadership of Hugo Chavez. Oil price has been marked up highly.

Totalitarianism with more harm than benefits to society has gone weak over time. Even countries in Europe that used to be totalitarian, had come to loosen up. Overtime it has been found that there is no growth for a country that has this type of government. Although a nation's strength can be done more easily in this kind of government, it's people's rights are not protected. Thus, this kind of political system benefits only a few people.