“Colorful and Totalitarian”, a Critical Dictionary by Prof. Rudolph BauerInterview

In his dictionary “Colorful and Totalitarian”, Bremen-based sociologist Prof. Rudolph Bauer, with foresight, combines the two terms “colorful” and “totalitarian” to describe contemporary totalitarianism and, at the same time, to denounce it before it is too late. In a world where violence, militarism, restriction of freedoms, surveillance, racism,  discrimination, and utter indifference and lack of empathy are on the rise, the terms Bauer cites in his critical dictionary shake us awake to think independently and critically, without letting ourselves be blinded by the colorful hues of this contemporary fascism. Dr. Rampoldi from ProMosaik interviewed the author. The critical dictionary has already been published in English. This dictionary saves us the trouble of reading many other works. It teaches us to critically question a world that, due to its diversity, appears anti-fascist but is in reality structured in a totalitarian manner.

 

Please explain to us the choice of the title of your book.

The title identifies the overall political trend of the countries of the Western world towards a totalitarian rule disguised as colorful. "Colorful" and "totalitarian" seem to contradict each other. Indeed, classical totalitarianism was uniform: with one party, one ideology, one leader, one people, one race, one collective, and one single destiny, namely, to rule the world. However, the contemporary totalitarianism that is emerging in front of our eyes seems to be the opposite. It is diverse and colorful like the rainbow: gender-diverse, migrant, anti-fascist and anti-racist, "self-determined", diverse and woke. It shows itself as liberal, cosmopolitan, freedom-oriented and democratic. From an external point of view, it separates itself from the ideology of retro-fascism. But the crucial element of this system of rule is totalitarianism. It censors and suppresses, segregates and demarcates, imprisons and locks out. And it is militaristically oriented towards the conquest as well as the domination of the world. By its colorfulness on the surface, the emerging totalitarian regime deceives about its true character and deeper core.

What are the main topics of the terms that appear in your dictionary?

The keywords refer to institutions, organizations, people and not least to terms and their meaning or their confusing variety of meanings. On the one hand, the keywords are related to each other by cross-references. This creates a grid of connections making us realize that we live behind the bars as if we were in captivity. In other words, there is a dense network of links in which we are involved and which we, as consumers of the daily news, are not aware of. Our ordinary thinking is parceled out. We only ever see one side of the fate cube of reality. We always see only the day-to-day events, not the general, comprehensive context. Nor do we recognize the historical contexts which have an impact up to the present and then continue into the future. The dictionary reveals present-day relationships at the horizontal level. Furthermore, the dictionary shows both vertical references to the totalitarian past and lines of development into a totalitarian future.

Why is the comparison between the actual situation and that of the Nazi era so essential for you?

Due to my own biography – I was born in 1939 – and against the background of the criminal history of German National Socialism, I am a highly sensitive political scientist. I react seismographically when traces, patterns and elements of the past appear and reveal themselves again today, even if they have a colorful decoration. Metaphorically speaking, I fear that there is a German “DNA” of subservience that, after losing two world wars, is once again arming itself—ideologically, propagandistically, and militarily—in order to declare the Russian East the enemy once more and, this time in alliance with NATO, to seek to conquer it. The references to historical National Socialism permit to reveal and clarify the pseudo-democratic and essentially totalitarian character of the actual German politics. The fact that this is the case, unlike in the past in the framework of NATO and the transatlantic alliance, aggravates the drama.

What are the advantages of introducing such a topic in the form of a dictionary and what are the limitations of this presentation type?

As I said, the dictionary shows, on the one hand, the large connections and the historical references. It fosters insight. It is a kind of intellectual pleasure! All readers who use the dictionary and work independently with it can open up reality through reading as well as through their own reflection. In other words, the readers of the dictionary understand the prison bars of the connections that imprison us and are able to painfully feel the safety net of the reality around us. On the other hand, as I mentioned in my preface, looking up in the dictionary makes the purchase and reading of many scientific works superfluous. And in addition, it is much less time-consuming. What does the dictionary not offer? Since this dictionary moves at the level of the actors, the organizations and organizers as well as their ideologies, the political-economic structures, dynamics and crises are underexposed. These political-economic structures, dynamics and crises must be considered while reading in order to gain a complete picture of reality.

What is your main message to our readers in the English-speaking world?

On the whole, we can say that the English-speaking world is the so-called West. Since Germany is (or was?) an economically significant part of the West, understanding German development is an important building block for understanding the West, the EU as well as the NATO. In addition, Germany – like other countries – is involved in global developments of global digitization, pandemization and CO2-hysteria, controlled by big data, big pharma, the pseudo-scientific climate prophets, the UN, the WHO and by actors such as the Bilderbergers, the World Economic Forum and various "G"-meetings. These, in turn, also influence the entire English-speaking world and beyond. I would say that the main message of my dictionary is the following warning: The world is again in a deadly situation, in which Germany is not for the first time involved in the triggering of world wars.

What are the main points of your criticism of capitalism?

The production, trade and finance capitalist system of merciless exploitation and profit economy has been in a phase of prolonged economic decline since the banking crisis which occurred in 2008. In order to “free” themselves from this situation once again, no totalitarian measures are being shied away from: neither pandemic lockdowns nor further government debt running into the billions, nor the dismantling of social services at the expense of the working masses, nor murderous wars of extermination against civilians, women, and children. Yes, the wars are even provoked. The comprehensive inhuman process of the capitalist "Great Reset" is obscured by a backdrop of a propaganda which is colorful. The critical dictionary "Colorful and Totalitarian" gives you a glimpse behind the scenes. In the meantime, however, the rainbow colors are rapidly changing into green camouflage colors.