In the essay Theory of Dictatorship (Ponte alle Grazie, pages 220, € 16.50) the thinker Michel Onfray re-reads the 1984 novel by George Orwell, published in 1949, as if it were a treatise on dictatorship. The French writer derives from the novel, a dystopia that focuses on communism, the “laws” of the perfect totalitarian regime. Surprise! We already respect them all, yet we are convinced that we live in a liberal democracy … Of course, one could answer with the famous phrase that is read on the flap of the first edition of the dystopian novel Mondo Nuovo by Aldous Huxley, among other professors from Orwell : «The perfect dictatorship will have the appearance of democracy, a prison without walls in which prisoners will never dream of escaping. A slavery system where, thanks to consumption and fun, slaves will love their slavery ».
Let’s go back to Onfray. So how does a modern dictatorship begin? Here are the main instructions. First. Destroy freedom through means such as continuous surveillance, the destruction of personal life, the imposition of a hegemonic opinion, the denunciation of thought crimes. Second. Impoverish the tongue. Words are destroyed, classics are eliminated, a new and global language is spoken. Third. Abolish the truth and replace it with ideology. Fourth. Suppress history or at least rewrite it with the eyes of the current ideology, trying it and condemning it, if it really cannot be erased. It also helps destroy books or at least publish only those faithful to the line. Fifth. Denying nature. The will to live is humiliated, disproportionate hygiene rules are imposed, sexual frustration is programmed, it is only procured medically. Sixth. Propagate hatred. Here an enemy is needed, a ghost to be constantly stirred to justify emergency measures, to have a scapegoat, to divert attention from the responsibilities of those who govern. Seventh. Aspire to the Empire. In other words, indoctrinating children, managing the opposition, governing together with the ruling class, enslaving in the name of progress, covering up power. Onfray wonders, “Who will dare to say that we haven’t reached this point?” Let everyone think about what we have experienced in these months and these days and give their answer. It is difficult, however, to deny that Onfray indicates, at a minimum, a plausible degeneration of the democratic system in a regime dominated by the alliance between technocrats and bureaucrats, between huge assisted industry and political class.
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