The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt - Totalitarianism, Loneliness and Modernity

Generally regarded as the definitive work on totalitarianism, this book is an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political movements. Arendt was one of the first to recognize that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were two sides of the same coin rather than opposing philosophies of Right and Left. With the Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt emerges as the most original and profound-therefore the most valuable-political theoretician of our times (New Leader). Index.

Totalitarianism, Loneliness and Modernity

Today in the United States, the political ideologies of Fascism and communism are conceptualized as antipodal extremes on the classic American right to left political continuum. Stemming from Cold War understandings of the primacy of economic modes of production in defining the political character of a nation-state, Fascist Nazi Germany is deemed a part of the far right from its reliance on the private sector for economic production, while the Soviet Union bookends the far left because of their utilization of a centralized, state controlled economy. Philosopher Hannah Arendt however, argues that Fascism and Stalinist communism are not political antitheses, but are actually two sides to the same coin of a new overarching socio-political development unique to the modern age; totalitarianism. In The Origins of Totalitarianism Arendt methodologically deconstructs the historical processes and ideologies which eventually crystallized into the totalitarian regimes of Stalin and Hitler in the interwar period of the twentieth century. Through this process, Arendt pinpoints why seemingly rational human beings were inclined to adhere to irrational ideologies of totalitarian movements to a unique condition inherent in modern societies, the proliferation of loneliness. For loneliness, "the experience of not belonging to the world at all... is among the most radical and desperate experiences of man" (475). The success of totalitarian movements then, depends on their ability to exploit the loneliness and desperation fostering in the modern individual through the destruction of preexisting institutions and ideologies.
Like Foucault, Heidegger, and other existential thinkers, Arendt maintains that individuals are born into the world tabula rasa, without inherent beliefs or rights. Drawing from the ideas of Conservative thinker Edwin Burke, Arendt argues human rights and freedoms "acquire their meaning and function organically only when the citizens belong to and are represented by groups or form a social and political hierarchy" (312). Ideas and concepts without powerful social institutions to insure their validity then, are merely nonbinding words on a page or fancies of the imagination. Historic social institutions, formulated by the sacrifices and relationships made by preceding generations play a vital role for Arendt in giving meaning to the lives of human beings. In the early twentieth century however, many traditional cultural institutions and ideas in European society such as class, political parties, and positivist philosophy began to degenerate as Europeans became increasingly disillusioned with their "unauthentic" lives. This disillusionment with the modern world provided the fertile soil for the seeds of totalitarianism to grow, as twentieth century Europeans became "people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer resist" (474). It is in this loneliness and disillusionment which the radical promises and worldview of totalitarian movements gain power, as human beings no longer possessed traditional social relationships and institutions which maintained a notion of common sense. Without common sense, Europeans willingly listened to the radical myths of hate and progress spewed by totalitarian apologists to give meaning in their lives.
Arendt's use of evidence in her monograph is spectacular in its scope, pulling directly from the writings and speeches of Goebbels, Himmler and Hitler, whom frankly promoted their discourses of hate, thus expanding their reach, power and validity. The one shortfall of Arendt's masterpiece is her uneven emphasis on Nazism viz. Stalinism. Yet, even this discrepancy is excusable, as Soviet records remained classified until the demise of the Soviet Union in the final decade of the twentieth century.

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