State Asceticism

State Asceticism is an ideology that seeks to impose the philosophy of asceticism onto a whole community or nation. It is usually highly authoritarian, and is generally one of the most hated ideologies in the world, as most people are used to pleasures. Although atheists can be ascetics, most ascetics are religious or spiritual to some degree.

Ancient
Asceticism has been present as an aspect in many ancient religions, such as Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, as well as being practiced to some degree by ancient Judaism. However, the most notable example of ancient asceticism was practiced by the Greek philosophers Pythagoras and Zeno of Citium.

Common Era
In the past 2000 years, there has been many religious movements with the aspect of asceticism, such as the Christian group called the Cathars, who believed in a form of mysticism and that salvation can only be attained through complete material deprivation. However, they were wiped out in the Inquisition, and few Cathars remain today. Another example of religious asceticism is Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam. Unlike Catharism, which was wiped out almost entirely in the Middle Ages, Sufism remains today and still has millions of adherents. A more famous example is the Amish, who populate many regions of the continental United States, and still have their own communities today.

New Asceticism
In the 20th and 21st centuries, asceticism experienced a revival. Some would argue that the hippie movement, as well as "darker" movements such as emo, goth, and vampire, entail various aspects of asceticism. A more authoritarian example of asceticism would be Democratic Kampuchea, a state that attempted to eliminate all aspects of life other than servitude to the state, as well as pre-1994 North Korea, which also eliminated all recreational aspects from the state. More recent ascetic movements that have yet to have gained a foothold include Cyanism and Nullism.