Schools of Totalitarianism

In his novel The Seizure of Power , Czeslaw Milocz describes one Polish character’s preparation for life under the Soviets by telling the story of his school experience. At first, Peter wrote and thought for himself; he got bad grades and was the source of endless trouble. One day, he wrote for his teacher, and almost instantly everything changed: No more troubles at school, and he became a star pupil.

“The whole secret lay in a pliant yielding to social press; it was important to to believe too much in what was recommended . . . , and not to believe too little. And what else had he been doing since his release from camp? He was falling back into his old school habit . . . . The new system was just like a big school, and millions of people had discovered its mechanism. It was not in the least important to accept it with sincerity; but when expressing an opinion, it was necessary to make internal arrangements to ensure that really believed what you were saying. Five minutes later you could begin to doubt privately (as in school in front of the blackboard) every single word.”