this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2026
766 points (98.9% liked)
Wikipedia
5404 readers
129 users here now
A place to share interesting articles from Wikipedia.
Rules:
- Only links to Wikipedia permitted (an exception is made for news about Wikipedia, where outside news sources are permitted)
- Please stick to the format "Article Title (other descriptive text/editorialization)"
- Tick the NSFW box for submissions with inappropriate thumbnails
- On Casual Tuesdays, we allow submissions from wikis other than Wikipedia.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
"authoritarianism" is a concept made up by an anti-semetic CIA stooge in order to be able to equivocate between Nazis and communists. Its a completely meaningless term where every definition is either so broad that it describes all states (and almost just all social structures organised for any purpose) or so narrow it is just a synonym for whatever designated enemy you are being told is evil. It's about as cogent as "badguyism".
Tankie tears is music for my ears
?
links please, this is certainly unfamiliar
Sure, what would you like links for? The stuff about Hannah Arendt or the critique of the theory of "authoritarianism"? The first I can provide, but let me know more specifically what so I dont overwhelm.
The latter I cannot since the link is just Hannah Arendt and successors works'. I'd encourage you to actually read it with a critical eye and notice how vague it is. It is a theory that only cares about whether a state does stuff, not why or how or for whom or with what support. This is completely silly. Every state is authoritarian, every hierarchical organisation is authoritarian. Its a word used to make you think negatively of a group - Like how enemy states do not have governments, they have regimes and their VPs aren't VPs they're "hand picked successors".
What I would really recommend is that you read "Blackshirts and Reds", "Inventing Reality" and Engels' "On Authority"
Stalinism.ml