Two years after its publication, Ariane Bilheran's essay Psychopathologie du Totalitarisme: sommes-nous dans une dérive totalitaire (Psychopathology of totalitarianism: are we in totalitarian drift?) is more relevant than ever. In 2023, the philosopher and clinical psychologist analyzed the drivers of the Covid crisis management. She showed how, through the widespread use of fear as a political tool, segregation (vaccinated/unvaccinated), censorship, and denunciation, the Cov

In a first analysis, entitled The Controlled Opposition or the Yellow Union, dated January 21, 2024 in Antipresse, I described the methods for containing political opposition among the people and directing it towards paths that are less dangerous in the eyes of those in power. This popular opposition, thus controlled, must be guided by leaders who will render it, without its knowledge, totally harmless.

The author of The Language of the Third Reich was a firsthand witness to the German totalitarian drift. Here we continue reading his diary, rich in poignant descriptions.

How can we explain mass adherence to ideologies in totalitarian systems, and the irrational actions they command? More than ten years ago, in my business consulting work, I coined the notion of "delusional contagion" [1] for the literature on psychosocial risks and suffering at work.