Sárospataki Füzetek 1. (1997)
1997 / 2. szám - Dr. Frank Sawyer: The roots of totalitarianism (A totalitarizmus gyökerei)
THE ROOTS OF TOTALITARIANISM "More depends on the percentages than the work itself. A foreman with any brains concentrates more on the percentages than on the work. It’s the percentage that feeds us. Make it look as if the work’s done, whether it is or not." This no doubt is a critique of the whole centralized economy of communist society. The main means for getting work done at the camp is to command and to oppress. A thoroughly negative psychology. The absurdity here is that it is well known that the fullest and most lasting results are always reached by means of a positive approach. The irony in the story is that Ivan and the others produce the most work and the best results when they enjoy taking initiative on the job and when they feel a little selfesteem at the results. Even before anyone could have asked if there were any good in the Communist economic system, it was already bound to fail on psychological grounds. The novel demonstrates that an opportunity to really work and take pride in the results is far more productive in terms of both quality and quantity. Ivan, who risks getting back late for roll call at the end of the day because he is so enthusiastically busy doing a good job at the wall he is building at the zek work site, makes the ironical comment: "Bloody nuisance, these short working days". The theological root of totalitarianism What are the deepest roots of the neurosis we call totalitarianism? Totalitarian ideas are tyrannical because they look for ’final solutions’ without room for dissent. Choosing total control as the means (which then soon becomes an end and a norm in itself) ensures that such an ideology must fail, for among human needs are the need for freedom, responsibility, the sharing of decision-making processes, appreciation and esteem of ourselves by others and meaningful social affiliation. Both Fascism and Communism led to great tyranny because they emphasized control at the expense of choice and free responsibility. Of course, there are also tyrannical forms of Capitalism and the present technocratic society. The spiritual roots of totalitarianism cannot be ignored. The importance of the Christian-Marxist dialogues was not only a search for peace, but 83
