Missive #527

The world is in the grips of mass formation—a dangerous, collective type of hypnosis—as we bear witness to loneliness, free-floating anxiety, and fear giving way to censorship, loss of privacy, and surrendered freedoms. It is all spurred by a singular, focused crisis narrative that forbids dissident views and relies on destructive groupthink.

“Alternative voices are stigmatized by a veritable Ministry of Truth, which is crowded with “fact checkers.” Freedom of speech is curtailed by various forms of censorship and self-censorship; people’s right to self-determination is infringed upon by coercive vaccination strategies, which impose heretofore unthinkable social exclusion and segregation upon society.”

Desmet’s work on mass formation theory was brought to the world’s attention on The Joe Rogan Experience and in major alternative news outlets around the globe. Read this book to get beyond the sound bites!

Totalitarianism is not a coincidence and does not form in a vacuum. It arises from a collective psychosis that has followed a predictable script throughout history, its formation gaining strength and speed with each generation—from the Jacobins to the Nazis and Stalinists—as technology advances. Governments, mass media, and other mechanized forces use fear, loneliness, and isolation to demoralize populations and exert control, persuading large groups of people to act against their own interests, always with destructive results.

In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.

With detailed analyses, examples, and results from years of research, Desmet lays out the steps that lead toward mass formation, including:
– An overall sense of loneliness and lack of social connections and bonds
– A lack of meaning—unsatisfying “bullsh*t jobs” that don’t offer purpose
– Free-floating anxiety and discontent that arise from loneliness and lack of meaning
– Manifestation of frustration and aggression from anxiety
– Emergence of a consistent narrative from government officials, mass media, etc., that exploits and channels frustration and anxiety

In addition to clear psychological analysis—and building on Hannah Arendt’s essential work on totalitarianism, The Origins of Totalitarianism—Desmet offers a sharp critique of the cultural “groupthink” that existed prior to the pandemic and advanced during the COVID crisis. He cautions against the dangers of our current societal landscape, media consumption, and reliance on manipulative technologies and then offers simple solutions—both individual and collective—to prevent the willing sacrifice of our freedoms.

“We can honor the right to freedom of expression and the right to self-determination without feeling threatened by each other,” Desmet writes. “But there is a point where we must stop losing ourselves in the crowd to experience meaning and connection. That is the point where the winter of totalitarianism gives way to a spring of life.” — Book promo @ goodreads.com

An analysis of the psychological process of totalitarianism is extremely relevant in the twenty-first century. There are several signs that a new kind of (technocratic) totalitarianism is on the rise: an exponential increase in the number of intrusive actions by security agencies (opening mail, searching IT systems, installing eavesdropping devices, tapping telephones); the general advance of surveillance society; the increasing pressure on the right to privacy (especially since 9/11); the sharp increase in the last decade in citizens snitching on one another through government-organized channels; the increasing censorship and suppression of alternative voices, in particular during the coronavirus crisis; loss of support for basic democratic principles; and the introduction of an experimental vaccination program and QR code as a condition for having access to public spaces, and so on. The moment Arendt had anticipated in 1951 seems to be rapidly approaching: the emergence of a new totalitarian system led, not by “ring leaders” like Stalin and Hitler, but by dull bureaucrats and technocrats.

There are four conditions in particular that have to be present in a society for large-scale mass formation to occur. These four conditions were present prior to the rise of Nazism and Stalinism, and they are also present now.

The first condition is generalized loneliness, social isolation, and lack of social bonds among the population.
This deterioration of social connectedness leads to the second condition: lack of meaning in life.
The third condition is the widespread presence of free-floating anxiety and psychological unease within a population.
The fourth condition, in turn, also follows from the first three: a lot of free-floating frustration and aggression.

I got emails from the RV service shop in Elephant Butte these past few days with a quote and the needed deposit. So today when in town I went to the Post Office and mailed a check. The way things have been going the check will get lost but in the unlikely event that it will be received I’m now guessing that I might go to have a new A/C installed sometime around the middle of July.

The trip to town included breakfast at The Adobe Cafe & Bakery which is near the junction of US180 & NM12 some 7 miles from Reserve but all the web sites say that it is in Reserve. Then more groceries from Jake’s and get a stamp at the Post Office. A quick trip and now back in my space which has become a sweat box with the high temperatures in the upper 90 for this next week. The fan is much better than nothing but it is still uncomfortable.