The Psychology of Totalitarianism

Psychologist Mattias Desmet reveals how modern societies drift toward totalitarianism through collective psychosis. Several factors set the stage, including loneliness, lack of community, unsatisfying jobs, anxiety and frustration-fueled aggression. Governments and media weaponize these feelings by providing a narrative that channels discontent. Step by step, isolated and fearful populations are demoralized as regimes exert control, persuading people to act against self-interest, always destructively. Desmet warns that although we may feel far from dictatorship, conditions enabling its rise are already present. By detailing the factors converging to enable totalitarianism, he shows how susceptible we are. But diagnosis enables prevention. In this short, learn to recognize mass formation, spot the drift toward totalitarianism, and resist the collective psychosis that fuels dictatorships.