How to counter the psychology of totalitarianism

The Psychology of Totalitarianism is a book for our time. It should be high on the reading list of anyone who wants to understand our cultural moment, and to make an informed and effective response.

Mattias Desmet teaches at Ghent University in Belgium—in the Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting. According to the book’s introduction, he noticed in 2017 that the “grip of governments on private life was growing tremendously fast.” When this phenomenon went into overdrive in the early months of 2020, he was driven to complete the project.

Desmet begins by asking a simple question: Why is it that totalitarian governments never arose at any time in history until the 20th century? He answers, “totalitarianism is not a historical coincidence… It is the logical consequence of mechanistic thinking and the delusional belief in the omnipotence of human rationality.” 

With the term “mechanistic thinking,” Desmet means the myth that man can be “reduced to a biological organism.” This reduction explains every human action as a mere biochemical reaction that is strictly determined by external factors. In other words, human will and purpose are non-existent. Human behavior can be controlled totally by anyone able to manipulate the world.

When enough people adopt this false, mechanistic worldview it is inevitable that they will begin to pull levers and push buttons in an attempt to act on their beliefs. That, and not some grand conspiracy, is what we are seeing in our cultural moment.

This mechanistic thinking is sometimes called “Atheistic Materialism,” sometimes, “Epicureanism,” or simply, “Science” with a capital “S.” However one names it, we should recognize it as a religion in its own right—one that is in direct conflict with Christianity. 

Christianity sees will and purpose at the core of the universe. God has perfect free will. When He creates man in His own image, God passes that will down to the human race as human agency limited only toward its creator. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the mechanistic thinking that dominates our world sees any vestige of Christianity as unacceptable blasphemy.

Mattias Desmet
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Desmet’s book is divided into three parts. The first section is valuable as a concise history of science. It traces how scientific advances can create the illusion that the entire universe is nothing but an elaborate machine. But once this illusion is mistaken for reality, it takes on a life of its own.

Scientific evidence that disproves the mechanistic assumption must be discounted, ignored, or denied. Fraud required to preserve the illusion creates a feedback loop of ever-increasing fraud. Eventually, the fraudulent science becomes impossible to hide and society reaches a tipping point.

The second section is the most riveting. It details how societies in the grip of a mechanistic worldview can fall into a type of mass hypnosis. It always begins with four widespread societal conditions.

The first two are the loneliness of social isolation coupled with a feeling of meaninglessness. From these the next two conditions arise: free-floating anxiety and free-floating aggression. By “free-floating,” Desmet means that these feelings are not connected with any particular threat or enemy. Such disconnected anxiety and aggression can easily be connected to something concrete. When that happens, we are in the early stages of totalitarianism.

In Nazi Germany, Jews were named as the cause of anxiety and the target of aggression. In Bolshevik Russia, it was the aristocracy—the “haves” became the targets of the “have nots.” In Communist China, it was those who stood against the Great Leap Forward.

In America today, the four conditions of totalitarianism are again present. Broken families and social media create widespread social disconnect. Notions that the universe, and life itself, arose from random chance feed a sense of meaninglessness. People feel anxiety without knowing why. The op-ed page daily demonstrates festering anger and aggression.

What will it take to prevent America’s falling into the same abyss as Germany, Russia and China? That is where Desmet’s book shines, and the reason it is a must-read. 

The path to reversing course begins with a sense of the transcendent and sublime. Science is not the end-all and be-all of the universe. Humans are more than biochemical machines. We really do have free will that can consider options and act on them. This reflects the will of a sovereign God guiding the universe.

Totalitarianism seeks to stamp out this truth. Don’t let it. Do not be intimidated into parroting the latest lie designed to squelch this truth. Speak the truth. Stand on principle. Swim upstream—especially when you are in the minority. 

Through each of these small acts of defiance, you assert your true humanity. In so doing, you reflect the God who created you. You become a beachhead of life that no mechanistic power can crush.