Bourgeois apathy sustains strongman dictatorships but hinders full totalitarianism

Evidence

These bourgeois attitudes are very useful for those forms of dictatorship in which a “strong man” takes upon himself the troublesome responsibility for the conduct of public affairs; they are a positive hindrance to totalitarian movements which can tolerate bourgeois individualism no more than any other kind of individualism. The apathetic sections of a bourgeois-dominated society, no matter how unwilling they may be to assume the responsibilities of citizens, keep their personalities intact if only because without them they could hardly expect to survive the competitive struggle for life. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 750

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sharpens the distinction between authoritarian ‘strong-man’ takeover (which tolerates bourgeois individualism) and totalitarian movements (which require erasing it) — a distinction the reader’s toolkit needs.
• XREF: connects to: Neoliberal thinkers repeatedly countenanced dictators as the lesser evil — Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the…, 905