Totalitarianism works through manipulated needs, not terror

Evidence

By virtue of the way it has organized its technological base, contemporary industrial society tends to be totalitarian. For “totalitarian” is not only a terroristic political coordination of society, but also a nonterroristic economic-technical coordination which operates through the manipulation of needs by vested interests. It thus precludes the emergence of an effective opposition against the whole. Not only a specific form of government or party rule makes for totalitarianism, but also a specific system of production and distribution which may well be compatible with a “pluralism” of parties, newspapers, “countervailing powers,” etc. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 109

Categorization

• DEFINE: Marcuse’s redefinition of totalitarianism as economic-technical coordination is the core concept of the book.
• XREF: Feeds directly into the attention economy: algorithmic recommendation as nonterroristic coordination. — connects to: Terror is the essence of totalitarian government, not a means to an end — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 808; Totalitarian rule replaces external coercion with domination from within each person; Totalitarian terror requires propaganda to coerce from within (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Terror is the essence of totalitarian government, not a means to an end #contradicts (0.90) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 808
• Totalitarian rule replaces external coercion with domination from within each person #expands (0.85)
• Totalitarian terror requires propaganda to coerce from within #expands (0.82)