Re: Big Brother One Step Closer?

On Wednesday 14 May 2003 11:38 pm, Andreas Pour wrote:
> Daniel Cassidy wrote:
> > On Wednesday 14 May 2003 7:13 am, James Richard Tyrer wrote:
> > > Andreas Pour wrote:
> > > > The race to totalitarianism continues . . . .
> > >
> > > Please at least get this correct, it is 'authoritarianism'.
> >
> > The dictionary definitions are slightly different but they're essentially
> > synonyms. So where's your complaint?

[...]

> Then I think it was Jeanne Kirkpatrick (maybe wrong, this is from
> recollection) who came up with some distinction b/w "authoritarianism" -
> the brutal murderers the Bush / Reagan Adminstration supported - and
> "totalitarianism" - the brutal murderers (though often not as brutal) the
> Russians were supporting.  The argument was that, while admittedly
> authoritarianism is also bad, it is not permanent; whereas totalitarianism
> is.

Am I to take it that the distinction here is that 'totalitarian' is 
'communist', but 'authoritarianism' isn't? If so that's the biggest load of 
nonsense I've ever heard.

If not, I fail to see any distinction at all, and I certainly fail to see how 
it applies to this case.

In fact, I find it hard to believe that a non-absurd distinction can be made. 
If a regime has total control over a country, it is totalitarian, that's what 
the word means. End of story.

-- 
dan

"Were i susceptible to having my mind changed, it would have changed my mind" 
- Matthew Parris

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