I would like to consider a paradox. If a tyrant goes to war against a totalitarian regime, in order to destroy it and create a new balanced order, which would win: the temporary tyranny, or the semi-permanent totality? Which would endure — cleansing fire, or watery deluge? The fire is the tyrant’s weapon of choice; water, the totalitarian tyranny. A republic would balance the elements with earth and air. But in a decaying regime, as in the case of the Roman Republic, a war precedes the restoration of order. But how might such a war end today? Which would win: tyranny, or totalitarianism, and whatever follows each option?
Alas, there are only two options that seem clear: either the tyrant wins and creates a new totalitarianism, or the totalitarianism that exists will endure. Either way, totalitarianism wins, unless the whole structure is dismantled, and humanity begins again.
Furthermore, the tyrant would be corrupted by the war, which would make them into a totalitarian menace. How can someone destroy societal totalitarianism and personal tyranny with one swift stroke? The answer is: they can’t. They need to go step by step. Only then can the dual evils of tyranny and totalitarianism be overcome — on Earth as it is in Heaven. Let us begin?
Edmund Wilson 