Hayek said, "Totalitarian governments make everyone strive for their totalitarian system, and an important method is to make ordinary people see the government's goals as their own goals."
So, how can we "educate" the people to "align" with the goals of totalitarian rule?
That requires "ideological uniformity," making the ideology uniform and aligned with the ruling plan. As E.H. Carr said, ideological uniformity is everywhere, just like the nationalization of industry, which is worth pondering. The nationalization of ideology often accompanies state ownership of industries, "controlling millions of people's movements." If called "monopoly," what is even more terrifying is the monopoly of thought. The ideology of nationalization in totalitarian rule represents the supreme social ideology, unquestionable and irrefutable, with no room for different voices.
Why does totalitarian rule attach such importance to the nationalization of thought?
Totalitarianism seeks uniqueness, self-centeredness, intelligence, and strength, while the nature of thought is "freedom." Therefore, for totalitarian rulers, the freedom and diversity of thought are potential threats. As Solzhenitsyn said, in a country, having a free-thinking mind is equivalent to having another government.
The self-centered cannot tolerate you "setting up another faction" and promoting "heretical ideas." Free thought is contrary to the dictatorship of totalitarian rule, so totalitarian rulers will never tolerate it.
Therefore, Qin Shihuang risked great danger and "burned books and buried Confucian scholars"; Emperor Wu of Han "dismissed the hundred schools and honored Confucianism"; Kangxi and Qianlong launched the Great Textual Suppression; Hitler completely eradicated "heretical ideas" from the minds of the German people... Whether it is imperial power, Nazi dictatorship, or cultural control, they all fall under the political spectrum of "nationalization of thought."
Conversely, from the attitude of rulers towards ideological consciousness, one can generally see the direction of power: totalitarianism or power-sharing, autocracy or constitutionalism.
Totalitarian rulers attempt to control everything for eternity and secure their rule: from bows and knives to the right to migrate, from the physical bodies of the people to the thoughts in their minds, even including sexual life. Orwell depicted the survival state of totalitarianism in "1984": "The sexual instinct creates its own world, beyond the control of the Party, so it must be destroyed as much as possible. It is particularly important that the deprivation of sexual life can cause hysteria, which is a good thing because it can be transformed into war frenzy and leader worship."
Nazi leader Hitler was well aware that repression alone was not enough; he had to further capture the souls of the people for his own use. Once the masses were anesthetized by nationalized thinking, they would willingly serve the purposes advocated by the totalitarian government, even to the point of death.
Hayek's conclusion is, "For a government to make everyone serve a single social plan, the most effective method is to make everyone agree with the goals of this social plan."
Therefore, totalitarian governments prescribe beliefs for the people and also find ways to make ordinary people believe that these beliefs are their own. If the people unanimously accept the beliefs that the government wants them to accept, each individual will voluntarily follow the path planned by the planners.
So, how can we achieve "what the government wants the people to think, the people will think"?
Hayek said, "To control thought, totalitarian governments must rely on various forms of propaganda. All propaganda made by totalitarian governments tends toward a single goal. All propaganda tools are used to influence everyone in one direction and attempt to make everyone have the same qualities in terms of character."
Klepper described Hayek's theory in "The Language of the Third Reich": "The language of the Nazi Party is a language of faith, with a religious form of shell but empty inside. They are accustomed to using a series of simple and crude slogans to maintain uniformity, and these brainwashing slogans have no substantive content. They only strengthen the ideological control through countless repetitions, turning lies into truth. The hollow slogans of Nazism are full of unquestionable violence, and any opposing voices will be drowned in the plan of the uniform and dictatorial rule of the leader."
At first glance, totalitarian systems attach great importance to theory. However, it is precisely these "closed-door" theories that lead to the end of truth.
Hayek pointed out that under totalitarian rule, the so-called "theories" are just disguised "myths," often adorned with newly invented mystical terms. Totalitarians need to create various doctrines to defend their totalitarian rule.
In a totalitarian society, false scientific theories often appear, becoming official dogmas. They use these dogmas to control everyone's actions, using them as tools to guide and encourage people, and directly or indirectly forcing people to regard every detail of government plans and every measure as sacred and irrefutable, without room for debate or criticism.
These "mythical" theories of totalitarian rulers have long been seen by various theorists in totalitarian systems. Plato's "noble lie" and Sorel's "myth" can be used to defend Nazi racial superiority or Mussolini's theory of cooperative federations.
When most people lose the ability to think independently, even those who retain the ability to criticize will be forced to remain silent. Even if someone raises questions, the totalitarian government will not address the problem itself but will spare no effort to suppress the person who raises the question, so that there will be no dissenting voices in society. At the same time, under totalitarian rule, supporting the official view is the only goal of all research. So-called disciplines such as history, economics, and culture become factories for producing numerous official myths, vigorously embellishing the wisdom of the authorities.
For a normal society, there will always be various ideological concepts that clash and overlap with each other. If there is no clash, it means that society is stagnant and lifeless; if there is no overlap, then cooperation becomes difficult, lacking vitality and energy. Various ideological concepts exist and compete with each other through freedom of speech, attracting and influencing different people, forming different communities and interactions.
When "mythical" thinking appears, society becomes abnormal and neurotic. Society without diverse thoughts is a solid block, stagnant water. There is only one official voice, one ideology. This is no longer thought but domination.
Hayek believes that in a free society, individuals interact and influence each other, gaining different knowledge and perspectives, constituting the life of thought. Rational growth depends on individual differences, and individual programs promote the growth of individual rationality. If we control reason with any premise, sooner or later, thought and reason will become rigid.
Only with the spirit of independence and freedom of thought can society seek common ground while reserving differences, and only then can society progress.