Congress and the White House have continued their inexorable march to the health care sea, completely unencumbered by the desires of the American public. One television commentator suggested that this indicates that we are now living in a dictatorship. I took his point, and yet knew that he was wrong. This is not a dictatorship; it is totalitarianism.

See if these characteristics fit the past year. In totalitarianism, the state recognizes no limits to its authority and tries to regulate every aspect of public and/or private life. It is characterized by one-party rule and an overlay of authoritarianism, where citizens are marginalized and have no say in the decisions that are made by the state.

Often, the single party takes the form of a personality cult. It remains in power thanks to the state-controlled media, which disseminates their official ideology, often defined as a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by institutional means. They seek to restrict open discussion and they do not tolerate criticism, instead attempting to regulate and restrict free speech.

I’ve never considered myself a conspiracy theorist, but this is getting all too real and very, very frightening. To change a dictatorship the citizenry needs to focus on one main target. Totalitarianism is more pervasive and intractable. Historically, the longer these governments are in power the more difficult they are to uproot. Let’s revisit this on November 3^rd.

• • 1/6/2010 4:32:30 PM
  • gerald lotman
  • Know your political philosophies
  • During the same period of the last non-frightening administration when the Republicans controlled both houses of congress and the presidency, the DOW was down 219 points. Under the current highly regulated restrictive intolerant reign of Obama and his cohorts the DOW has gained 2634 points. Lets get back to the verge of the economic cliff in Nov. Lets get back to the policies that got us where we were in Oct,Nov and Dec of 2008. Great article and great points. One party rule worked great in 2001-2006. It got us attacked and created the strong foundation for the economic collapse that occurred in 2008.
• • 1/6/2010 4:42:03 PM
  • Marvin Hurwitz
  • COMMENT
  • Your views are just as cooky as the Teabagger crackpots. Betcha the TV person you were quoting was on Fox. If you think we live in a totalitarian nation, then why don't you move to country that you feel is more democratic--if you can think of one. You are unpatriotic and unAmerican. I find your views to be reprehensible.
• • 1/6/2010 5:09:10 PM
  • Phil McDonough
  • Know your political philosophies
  • Please, Dave, get Real. You are a conspiracy theorist. We are an industry that fears any change & are promoting change to the public as 'catashtrophic'. Don't know if you can recall all the hype about how ruinous Social Security and MediCare would be - they are now part of our national secuity net for MILLIONS - imperfect as it may be. And, many of our free market practioners have harbored billions from fraudulent claims and self-interested provisions in law & regulation. Despite the manipulations, the preponderance of recipients have had a much better life because of these programs. No program is perfect, but self-interest groups will rally forever to make NO change until (they are convinced) it is perfect. Unfortunately, the 'ain't broke don't fix it' line has lost any meaning to the majority of americans who are stressed by our health care financing system - and the failure of the delivery system to apply benefits equally. We will have some health care financing reform, leading to some health care delivery reform; more will come as private enterprise figures out how to profit by it (and agrees that it is in its self-interest to do so). Your latest tone smirks of capitalist socialism - one party rule is grand when we are the party (gop!). Don't forget how the tri-partite system was set for checks and balances, and within the Senate especially, the super majority requirement necessitates compromise. To infer dictatorship is an insult to thinking Americans - who may not like an administration's every plan and proposal, but will fight to the death their right to present them as well as your right to dissent. pacem en terris
• • 1/6/2010 5:22:29 PM
  • Marvin Hurwitz
  • THE HEALTH CARE BILL
  • If you knew what is really in the health care legislation not yet approved, you'll see that the health insurance companies--the same ones that oppose health care reform--benefit in many ways. Tell me if you think the following changes can be made in a democracy or in a totalitarian nation: 1. Extends coverage to 31 million Americans, the largest expansion of coverage since the creation of Medicare. (that's a lot of $ for insurers.) 2. Assures that you can choose your own doctor. 3. Enables Americans (many of whom cannot get even basic health insurance now) to be eligible for coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. 4. Makes sure that consumers (my clients and perhaps yours as well) will never be charged exorbitant premiums on the basis of their age, health, or gender. 5. Guarantees that these same people I work with will never lose their coverage just because they get sick or injured. 6. Protects my clients and other Americans from outrageous out-of-pocket expenditures by doing away with lifetime and annual limits. 7. Allows young people to stay on their parents' coverage until they're 26 years old. 8. Creates health insurance exchanges, or "one-stop shops" for individuals purchasing insurance, where insurance companies compete for new customers. (Very totalitarian, isn't it? Sounds to me more like the kind of capitalism you and your friends always advocate.) 9. Helps small businesses provide health care coverage to their employees with tax credits and by allowing them to purchase coverage through the exchanges. 10. Improves and strengthens Medicare by eliminating waste and fraud (without cutting basic benefits), beginning to close the Medicare Part D donut hole, and extending the life of the Medicare trust fund. (Hmm. And all along I thought you and your Teabagger buddies liked this idea. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you just want Medicare to fail. That would be nice, wouldn't it?) 11. Creates jobs by reining in costs -- fostering competition, reducing waste and inefficiency, and starting to reward doctors and hospitals for quality, not quantity, of care. 12. Cuts the deficit by over $130 billion in the next 10 years. (Heaven forbid we do something that reduces the deficit. But then again, all you guys do is complain about deficits. And the only answer you ever have is lower taxes. Mo matter what the problem is--cut taxes, especially for those who make millions. Other than that you sit on your derriers and repeat the word no no, no, no. No to everything. I guess you don't like change of any kind. Gee, that sounds like totalitarianism. So I wonder who are the totalitarians and who are the true American democrats with a small d?
• • 1/9/2010 2:56:28 PM
  • Chuck
  • Totalitarianism
  • I totally agree with David Saltzman. For the first time in my life , I feel threatened by my own government. I want the U.S Government to protect our national security and make sure I have the liberty to pursue my life the way I see fit. I want my government to stay out of my personal life.

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