Trevor Paglen

The Internet was supposed to be the greatest tool of global communications and means of sharing knowledge in human history. And it is. But it has also become the most effective instrument of mass surveillance and potentially one of the greatest instruments of totalitarianism in the history of the world.

American Artist

Dennis Prager

For the Left, tolerance does not mean tolerance. It means first, acceptance. And second, celebration. That is totalitarianism: You not only have to live with what you may differ with, dear citizen, you have to celebrate it or pay a steep price.

American Journalist

Steven Pinker

The strongest argument against totalitarianism may be a recognition of a universal human nature; that all humans have innate desires for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The doctrine of the blank slate... is a totalitarian's dream.

Canadian Scientist

Timothy D. Snyder

Totalitarianism is not about some state that appears out of nowhere and suddenly is all-powerful. There can't be any such thing. Totalitarianism starts when the difference between your public life and your private life is effaced.

American Author

Mahatma Gandhi

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Indian Leader

Hannah Arendt

Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda.

German Historian

Maajid Nawaz

Liberalism will beat totalitarianism by killing it softly, not by mimicking it.

British Activist

Tom Robbins

The ultimate end of any ideology is totalitarianism.

Thomas Sowell

Liberalism is totalitarianism with a human face.

American Economist

Steve Allen

Totalitarianism is patriotism institutionalized.

American Entertainer

Totalitarianism has a negative tone; it implies oppression and lack of freedom.

Negative Connotation

Use 'totalitarianism' when discussing forms of governance, not for general control issues.

Political Context

'Totalitarianism' refers to control over all aspects of life, not just political.

Total Control

 even his enemies admitted that he fully believed in his cause, living modestly and working tirelessly from his student days until his too early death. He saw how power-hungry Stalin was and tried to warn the party, but it was too late." "And the decades of totalitarianism that followed after?"

History vs. Vladimir...

 And that is both a good and a bad thing. Right? We can get used to totalitarianism, but we can also get used to -- I've gotten used to a world without the love of my life in it. We can adapt. And I keep using that line as a touchstone for myself,