Question
"Is it possible to be under the reign of a totalitarian government without even realizing it?" - 
Overview
I find this question particularly engaging because it is attempting to get inside of the psyche of the common citizen within an authoritative government regime. Under extreme authoritative leaders, often times many resources that expose individuals to new ideas and allow them to seek knowledge are restricted heavily. This thought experiment of putting yourself in the shoes of those under such censorship is a tough thing to imagine, and it is reminiscent of 1998 Jim Carrey Film The Truman Show. In this film, the protagonist lives his everyday life in a world that is entirely manufactured. For his entire life, he is unaware that his actions and experiences are inauthentic and are being broadcast to millions of people as a means of entertainment television.
In the Real World
Allusions aside, let us take a deeper dive into what it is like to live in a totalitarian society, using North Korea, the poster child for such regimes, as our case study. In a 2019 interview with Business Insider, Kim Young-Il opened up about his experiences in the country as a child. Kim was able to escape at the age of 19, but recalls the impact of propaganda and government censorship. Recounting explicit lies, Kim states, "The people know these are all lies because its obvious. When the government says, there is prosperity in terms of food and rice, we see it ourselves and see that there is a drought and there is no food for us". So some lies fed to citizens in such an environment are certainly detectable, but there has to be a fission between one's objective real experiences and what they are being fed in government sponsored media. When the differences aren't apparent though, it may be more difficult to identify truthful statements. Kim describes that one thing they were never aware of was the difference in quality of life between North Korea and other countries. North Koreans believe that life is the same anywhere else in the world, or in many cases they have been told that life would be worse... and they have no information... no signal that these statements are false.
Concluding Thoughts
I do believe it would be possible for one to live under the reign of a totalitarian government without fully realizing the extent that the government is in control of them. Such a thought evokes a poignant feeling and hard to fully grasp for me personally as I have never experienced such a gripping force from a central government upon my life. Even if I had these experiences, I would not be able to fully quantify them without comparison to other standards of living internationally.
Resources:
Jacobs, H. (n.d.). North Koreans understand their government lies, but there’s one thing they don’t know, according to a defector. Business Insider. Retrieved September 11, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/what-north-koreans-dont-understand-about-world-defector-news-2018-6#:~:text=The%20one%20thing%20that%20North%20Koreans%20can%27t%20know%2C
