# The Difference Between Totalitarian Regimes And Free Democracies
**URL:** https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992
**Category:** Politics and Social Issues
**Created:** [June 15, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992 "2021-06-15T18:29:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@morgankane01](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/morgankane01)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/21 "2021-06-17T02:52:43Z")
Coluche a French humorist : " Do you know when a politician stop to lie ? When he stops to speak ! "
It is absolutely true for some of them, partly true for most.
Totalitarian states practice the " double think " as Georges Orwell names it. Truth per se is not important. what is important is the truth as the state tells it. And when truth is inescapable, the citizen must be able to act according the true fact, still believing in the state truth.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublethink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublethink)
The totalitarian state rebuilds reality, there is no reality per se but only the reality that the party wants: 2 and two make five !
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2\_%2B\_2\_%3D\_5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_%2B_2_%3D_5)
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev3](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev3)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 8:52am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/22 "2021-06-17T08:52:03Z")
Well dang, sure does sound like today’s Republican Party, don’t it?
---
### Author:  [@sabolina](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sabolina)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 8:58am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/23 "2021-06-17T08:58:02Z")
The State in Western democracies dictate what will be discussed and what we should worry about
---
### Author:  [@mriana](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/mriana)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 10:59am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/24 "2021-06-17T10:59:56Z")
I don’t know what the Repugs are, but in states where there is a trifecta of Repugs (on all levels of government) they sure are destroying the state. Gov’ner Parson (of MO) signed a bill that would fine anyone who sells guns and goes by the Federal gun laws. In MO there are no background check even though it’s illegal for a Felon or a domestic abuser to possess a gun and conceal and carry is legal, so the Repugs here are not only continuing their murder spree, but also destroying MO. Also, the health departments are not allowed to close down the state in a state of a health emergency anymore either. Needless to say, Missouri is being sued at least on not following Federal gun laws. Texas now will not allow churches be closed due to health emergencies anymore (not exactly sure of the details on that one).
Parson and gun laws (his definition of 2nd Amendment isn’t what was meant):
> **[MO Gov. Parson signs bill nullifying federal gun laws in the state](https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/06/mo-gov-parson-signs-bill-nullifying-federal-gun-laws-in-the-state/)**
>
> On Monday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed into law House Bill 85, allowing state gun laws to overrule federal gun laws and making law enforcement liable
DOJ says he can’t do that:
[https://www.kctv5.com/news/local\_news/justice-department-missouri-governor-cant-void-federal-gun-laws/article\_56cf1924-cf08-11eb-a0dc-afb95e391df3.html](https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/justice-department-missouri-governor-cant-void-federal-gun-laws/article_56cf1924-cf08-11eb-a0dc-afb95e391df3.html)
Parson is going to get more people killed, but that’s obviously the Repugs goal, especially after seeing their Fuhrer.
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev3](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev3)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 12:50pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/25 "2021-06-17T12:50:51Z")
> THE CONSTITUTION OF KNOWLEDGE A Defense of Truth By Jonathan Rauch
Heck it ain't even out yet. Though this review is informative, even if the reporter spent more time on
> LAST BEST HOPE America in Crisis and Renewal By George Packer
>
> Once Packer gets going, however, he is forceful. His deep fear is that Americans have lost the “art” of self-government.
>
> He means, with credit to Alexis de Tocqueville,
>
> “not just rights, laws and institutions, but what free people do together, the habits and skills that enable us to run our own affairs.”
>
> Self-government depends on trust, “which we’ve lost.”
[https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/books/review/george-packer-last-best-hope-jonathan-rauch-the-constitution-of-knowledge.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/books/review/george-packer-last-best-hope-jonathan-rauch-the-constitution-of-knowledge.html)
I ordered Rauch’s book, but have to wait till June 22nd to be able to download it. Yeah, [audible.com](http://audible.com), what can I say. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@citizenschallengev3](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/citizenschallengev3)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/26 "2021-06-17T13:00:36Z")
> @sabolina The State in Western democracies dictate what will be discussed and what we should worry about
Sure, but tell us where is it different?
And what if We The People just don’t care and go along with it. So we’re all accomplices.
Oh and, what about these days when it’s a few mega-billionaires who own the media and the messaging - the same folks who are putting their politicians into the government. Seems to me over the past decades, it’s been private interesting the worst brainwashing.
Hell even post 9/11 turned into a profiteering free for all, while inflicting monstrosities on other innocent people.
A silly gullible nation bought it.
Sabolina, what do we do to increase the interest in critical thinking among the masses? And if that doesn’t happen, what else is there?
---
### Author:  [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 3:47pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/27 "2021-06-17T15:47:46Z")
However, “Capitalism” is probably not playing a big role in Tech’s dominance since it’s happening everywhere in the so-called free world, which is not uniformly winner take all like America. – one
Where did the tech and the internet come from? Capitalists invented most of it, then authoritarian countries promoted slave like conditions where the chips get soldered together, and precious metals get mined.
---
### Author:  [@thatoneguy](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/thatoneguy)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/28 "2021-06-17T23:05:46Z")
Capitalists invented this junk but profit wasn’t their motivation. The government invented the internet during the Cold War, and guys like Steve Jobs and Gates were geeks who got very lucky. You could say the same about the younger Tech names as well.
---
### Author:  [@lausten](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/lausten)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/29 "2021-06-17T23:50:32Z")
> Capitalists invented this junk but profit wasn’t their motivation. -- og
Dang it is frustrating having a conversation with you. Invention is possible in an environment that developed enough tech to feed people and keep them safe, so education can go on unimpeded and people feel like they have a future for which to invent (excuse the weird sentence). Anyway, dictatorships and economies that are designed for profiting from invention don't do that, they just use the tech they find and spend the capital that's available.
---
### Author:  [@sabolina](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/u/sabolina)
#### Post date: [June 18, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992/30 "2021-06-18T03:29:27Z")
345635 avoids the key point made in 345634 about the public sector not private sector inventing the internet. Frustrating
[Previous page](https://forum.centerforinquiry.org/t/the-difference-between-totalitarian-regimes-and-free-democracies/7992.md?page=1)