Delayed Seminar 10: Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism"

In 1933, Hannah Arendt became a political activist, kick-starting a life-long passion to look at the pros and cons of every type of government. In The Origins of Totalitarianism she referred to Nazi Germany's as "a terrifying new form of government" where people mindlessly follow the leaders and absorb the propaganda, simply following orders and do not think for themselves what the consequences of their actions may be.

Hannah argued that the whole human status showed that racism is embedded in Western culture; the idea of the Nation State is inherently racist because it excludes. This 'community' only thinks highly of itself, viewing outsiders as just that, something that should stay on the outside. This can be clearly seen by the actions of the Nazis trying to eradicate all non-Aryans from Germany. They only included the Jews because they were needed to act as slave labourers; their skills and their work was valuable to Germany, otherwise, Arendt argues, they would have been eliminated immediately.

Part of the reason that Arendt's work is so controversial and shocking is that she was a Jew writing against the Jews.

In her book she focuses on Nazism, which was nationalist, based on the scientific differences between races and wanting a 'pure' society, and Stalinism in which the communist agenda was not restricted by law or other people's opinion; Stalin was all-powerful and answered to nobody. Both these frightening regimes used propaganda and manipulation of media and culture to create their power. This shows the dangers and possibilities that the Media hold, thereby emphasising why it is so important for journalism to be monitored and censored.

Arendt portrayed Hitler and Stalin as very similar; both with charisma, ability to manipulate, a God-complex and egos big enough to fill the whole of Europe. However, they had very different ideologies; Hitler was completely against Communism, while Stalin thrived on it.

One of the many conclusions that Arendt draws, a very shocking one, is that totalitarianism was an accident. Even more shockingly, she saw the holocaust as normal.

The question is continuously brought up; how could the media have this much power over the masses? Carey would argue that this is because the masses are not smart enough to think for themselves and so simply take whatever information is spoon-fed to them by the media and run with it, no questions asked. This is very dangerous, as both examples (Germany and Russia) show.

Arendt's work can be clearly linked to John Carey's 'supermen' and the social and intellectual hierarchies that he sets out in Intellectuals and the Masses. The masses are seen as bacteria (linked to Hitler's idea of purity of race and Stalin's views on soiled blood).

Therefore both Arendt and Carey are key in understanding how the media is used and why, and how to prevent a disaster such as the Holocaust recurring.