Prof. Robert George on Slipping into Totalitarianism

 Very relevant for the times we are living in:

When totalitarians or totalitarian movements in a society acquire sufficient political, economic, and/or cultural power, they deploy it to eliminate dissent. Their first move is to find formal and informal ways to punish criticism of the regime or movement, or its ideology. 

Next, explicit or implicit threats, sometimes supplemented by positive inducements, are used to get people to go beyond keeping their mouths shut to affirming the regime or movement's key ideological points even if they don't truly believe them.

To heighten the general sense of fear, examples are made of people who publicly dissent or refuse to mouth the official pieties. Those who succumb to the pressure and make gestures or statements affirming the movement's ideology begin to experience cognitive dissonance.

 Not wanting to think of themselves as cowards or liars, some gradually talk themselves into believing what they feel compelled to say. They really do learn to "love Big Brother."

 “The time has come for you to take the last step. You must love Big Brother. It is not enough to obey him: you must love him.” – George Orwell, 1984. Part 3, Chapter 4.

 I recently observed that we should change the title of 1984 to 2021, because it is more relevant today than ever. 

Now, a bit more from Prof. George:

My message to students. Love truth. Don't fall so deeply in love with your opinions that you place them above truth and insulate them from challenge. Have the courage to speak the truth as best you grasp the truth--knowing that you are fallible and may be wrong or partly wrong.

 If you are a lover of truth and a truth-seeker you will not yield to bullies who try to intimidate you into embracing their opinions. Nor will you permit yourself to become a bully who tries to intimidate others into holding yours. You'll present your reasons and make your case.

The worst form of censorship is self-censorship, when you silence yourself because you fear being bullied or cancelled by your "friends." Inclusive leaders in the law don't self-censor. The best advice I have ever heard about when to speak out is this: Be silent when you want too badly to speak, and speak out when fear whispers "be silent."