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New Totalitarianism Led by ‘Dull Bureaucrats and Technocrats’: Psychologist Mattias Desmet

People must not let fear stop them from dissent against irrational policies

New Totalitarianism Led by ‘Dull Bureaucrats and Technocrats’: Psychologist Mattias Desmet
Mattias Desmet, a professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University and author of “The Psychology of Totalitarianism," in New York on Aug. 27, 2022. Otabius Williams/The Epoch Times
Jan Jekielek
Jan Jekielek
Senior Editor
&
Masooma Haq
Masooma Haq
9/15/2022|Updated: 9/15/2022
0:00
Professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University Mattias Desmet is the world’s leading expert in the phenomenon known as “mass formation,” which is a type of hypnotic state that occurs when people are isolated from one another and free-floating anxiety is prevalent, as in during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Desmet believes the world is now seeing a new form of totalitarianism, spawned in the last couple of decades and fostered by mass formation during the pandemic.

Jan Jekielek is a senior editor with The Epoch Times, host of the show “American Thought Leaders.” Jan’s career has spanned academia, international human rights work, and now for almost two decades, media. He has interviewed nearly a thousand thought leaders on camera, and specializes in long-form discussions challenging the grand narratives of our time. He’s also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producing “The Unseen Crisis,” “DeSantis: Florida vs. Lockdowns,” and “Finding Manny.”
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Related Topics
totalitarian regime
technocracy
mass formation
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