Classical Liberalism and Totalitarianism

The Quest for Community: A Study in the Ethics of Order and Freedom, by Robert Nisbet

From the back cover:

…as the traditional ties that bind fell away, the human impulse toward community led people to turn even more to the government itself, allowing statism—even totalitarianism—to flourish.

From the time that classical liberalism reached its zenith until totalitarianism achieved the same was a matter of a few short decades – from utmost respect for the individual to utmost devastation for a...