End stage capitalism at its best! What we need is a strong left to provide an opposing vision of what compassion for each other can mean in society. Sadly the generations before have spent too long listening to the red scare tactics of neo-liberalism and allowed the corporate over lords to dismantle the left.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot is that fascism accurately identifies the breakdown of society, whereas centrism requires complete denial of it. So in that way fascists can be the "honest" ones by pointing out signs of collapse that centrists have to ignore and underplay and distract from.
Of course they then create remarkably outrageous fictions as the source of this collapse, and call for a resurgence of the very forces that caused it in the first place. But that first bit is where they will always defeat centrists in times of crisis. Centrism requires pretending our systems work. This also means that centrists can't engage in any meaningful, because they're completely out of touch with the moment and frankly with reality overall.
Fascists are also out of touch with reality, but their reality is constructed from the present moment of crisis, an amalgam of the dominant cultural mythos, extreme cartoonist celebrity, and a wild assortment of strategic lies.
Which is much more effective than the centrist reality constructed of dying norms, bland homogenous celebrity, academia, and blatant hypocrisy.
Thanks as always for an informative and provocative piece.
I think it is wise to be cautions about engaging the center in part because it is an incoherent concept. I have generally been contemptuous of it as being a refuge of apologists for the status quo along with the unprincipled and uninformed who are their primary audience.
Lately, I have been wrestling with an intuition that, instead of trying to chase the center or shift it leftward, there might be a way to redefine it from below. I think of it as a proto-political strategy.
Specifically, I am thinking that the left could appropriate and redefine the concept of adulthood in such a way that the complacency and complicity of the center could be interrupted. That is, we could raise the bar on what it means to be an adult engaged in civic discourse such that supremacist appeals, appeals to violence, and prioritizing private interests over shared interests were dismissed out of hand as childish.
I forgot the tie to your point about defeating fascism which is simply this: fascist behavior is immature even from a toddler. Overcoming self-absorbtion, learning self-regulation, including controlling the impulse to violence and learning to share and cooperate are the curricula of infancy and early childhood. 🌼
Colonialism which is essentially white supremacy is alive and well in the colony that started it all...no surprise that the people in power don't decry the fascists, they are part of the problem
The sheer idiocy of fining and imprisoning the unhoused population is just mind blowing. Instead of providing housing and mental health services, let's just throw them in prison. As a liberal who lives in California, I'm so disgusted by our leadership.
& people think running to the ballot will save them. You cannot vote fascism out, these people are not going to hand us anything (clearly like history has already told this story). We need to take it! It seems the people have forgotten the government cannot govern the people without the consent and cooperation of the people. They should fear us. Sadly many people are comfortable in captivity and don't realize the power we have as a collective. Americans seem to think because its not them that's dying today they're safe, not realizing their time will come and they'll just die last.
The West had a hand in some of the problems and violence driving people to migrate but there were vicious wars and failing states before “the West” or “capitalism” ever existed so I find blaming the West exclusively to be misguided. And in fact, there generally isn’t anything better than capitalism at feeding people and many other important things! A huge cause of the housing crisis in California are the zoning regulations (and city regulations!) - hobbling the free market and so preventing needed housing. (We absolutely also need government investment into subsidized housing.) Building is very expensive and slow in CA and people are working on solutions to that. We have been dumping billions into trying to house homeless folks - because people do in fact care - and it’s not surprising that when billions after millions after millions seem to make no difference people think it’s time to try something else. It’s a genuinely difficult problem to solve, not - oh people are just evil and don’t want to give people housing.
You should look into what is meant by a “failing” or “failed” state. Those are definitions set by the West and imposed on territories that were forced to form inorganic entities that were then intentionally designed to never be harmonious. Also, if your argument goes that building housing is expensive and not working, what of the encampment clearings?
Such a thoughtful piece, as always. We are governed by wealthy sociopaths who see just as much value in our dead bodies as our live ones. Shout it from the rooftops, general strikeus .com - we need to take our labor back.
No Peter, a billionaire political class and their media arms gave us Brexit. The messaging was tailored for separate groups... the center (liberals) were all in.
If only we had more time to properly dismantle capitalism before it collapses in on itself we might be able to help more people. But that would take decades to do and with climate disasters making growing food more difficult, if not impossible in some areas, we're rapidly running out of time😢
Fear the rich, not the poor. The rich are psychopaths. They have a mental disorder in which the acquisition of wealth is the meaning of life. They will starve people , impoverish nations, commit genocide, and the list goes on. The proletariat needs to wake up and stop blaming immigrants. They are only immigrants because the rich decided to destroy their countries economy. There is only one enemy, and it’s the oligarchs. Quit giving in to the propaganda and realize if we unite, we have power. Be kind to your fellow people, and eat the rich.
The ruling class just wants to rule. They don’t care about the people or the planet they exploit. The only solution is to replace them with honest, ordinary folk.
End stage capitalism at its best! What we need is a strong left to provide an opposing vision of what compassion for each other can mean in society. Sadly the generations before have spent too long listening to the red scare tactics of neo-liberalism and allowed the corporate over lords to dismantle the left.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot is that fascism accurately identifies the breakdown of society, whereas centrism requires complete denial of it. So in that way fascists can be the "honest" ones by pointing out signs of collapse that centrists have to ignore and underplay and distract from.
Of course they then create remarkably outrageous fictions as the source of this collapse, and call for a resurgence of the very forces that caused it in the first place. But that first bit is where they will always defeat centrists in times of crisis. Centrism requires pretending our systems work. This also means that centrists can't engage in any meaningful, because they're completely out of touch with the moment and frankly with reality overall.
Fascists are also out of touch with reality, but their reality is constructed from the present moment of crisis, an amalgam of the dominant cultural mythos, extreme cartoonist celebrity, and a wild assortment of strategic lies.
Which is much more effective than the centrist reality constructed of dying norms, bland homogenous celebrity, academia, and blatant hypocrisy.
*can't engage in any meaningful strategy or response
Thanks as always for an informative and provocative piece.
I think it is wise to be cautions about engaging the center in part because it is an incoherent concept. I have generally been contemptuous of it as being a refuge of apologists for the status quo along with the unprincipled and uninformed who are their primary audience.
Lately, I have been wrestling with an intuition that, instead of trying to chase the center or shift it leftward, there might be a way to redefine it from below. I think of it as a proto-political strategy.
Specifically, I am thinking that the left could appropriate and redefine the concept of adulthood in such a way that the complacency and complicity of the center could be interrupted. That is, we could raise the bar on what it means to be an adult engaged in civic discourse such that supremacist appeals, appeals to violence, and prioritizing private interests over shared interests were dismissed out of hand as childish.
I forgot the tie to your point about defeating fascism which is simply this: fascist behavior is immature even from a toddler. Overcoming self-absorbtion, learning self-regulation, including controlling the impulse to violence and learning to share and cooperate are the curricula of infancy and early childhood. 🌼
Those who fail to learn it, don't need to be given power much less placed in positions of public trust.
Colonialism which is essentially white supremacy is alive and well in the colony that started it all...no surprise that the people in power don't decry the fascists, they are part of the problem
The sheer idiocy of fining and imprisoning the unhoused population is just mind blowing. Instead of providing housing and mental health services, let's just throw them in prison. As a liberal who lives in California, I'm so disgusted by our leadership.
& people think running to the ballot will save them. You cannot vote fascism out, these people are not going to hand us anything (clearly like history has already told this story). We need to take it! It seems the people have forgotten the government cannot govern the people without the consent and cooperation of the people. They should fear us. Sadly many people are comfortable in captivity and don't realize the power we have as a collective. Americans seem to think because its not them that's dying today they're safe, not realizing their time will come and they'll just die last.
The West had a hand in some of the problems and violence driving people to migrate but there were vicious wars and failing states before “the West” or “capitalism” ever existed so I find blaming the West exclusively to be misguided. And in fact, there generally isn’t anything better than capitalism at feeding people and many other important things! A huge cause of the housing crisis in California are the zoning regulations (and city regulations!) - hobbling the free market and so preventing needed housing. (We absolutely also need government investment into subsidized housing.) Building is very expensive and slow in CA and people are working on solutions to that. We have been dumping billions into trying to house homeless folks - because people do in fact care - and it’s not surprising that when billions after millions after millions seem to make no difference people think it’s time to try something else. It’s a genuinely difficult problem to solve, not - oh people are just evil and don’t want to give people housing.
You should look into what is meant by a “failing” or “failed” state. Those are definitions set by the West and imposed on territories that were forced to form inorganic entities that were then intentionally designed to never be harmonious. Also, if your argument goes that building housing is expensive and not working, what of the encampment clearings?
lol! - Crumpled Foreskin
You smell like a Zionist.
Re: "homelessness is a housing problem", for a good deep dive on the subject debunking the Shillin' Burghers of the world, see: https://youtu.be/bzRxQBaLUrQ?si=hKiioeqTZHuGXE0N
Such a thoughtful piece, as always. We are governed by wealthy sociopaths who see just as much value in our dead bodies as our live ones. Shout it from the rooftops, general strikeus .com - we need to take our labor back.
No Peter, a billionaire political class and their media arms gave us Brexit. The messaging was tailored for separate groups... the center (liberals) were all in.
It's tragic that the centre and traditional left continue to move so far to the right. Fascism is just not OK.
Nail On Head. Scary as fuck.
If only we had more time to properly dismantle capitalism before it collapses in on itself we might be able to help more people. But that would take decades to do and with climate disasters making growing food more difficult, if not impossible in some areas, we're rapidly running out of time😢
Fear the rich, not the poor. The rich are psychopaths. They have a mental disorder in which the acquisition of wealth is the meaning of life. They will starve people , impoverish nations, commit genocide, and the list goes on. The proletariat needs to wake up and stop blaming immigrants. They are only immigrants because the rich decided to destroy their countries economy. There is only one enemy, and it’s the oligarchs. Quit giving in to the propaganda and realize if we unite, we have power. Be kind to your fellow people, and eat the rich.
The ruling class just wants to rule. They don’t care about the people or the planet they exploit. The only solution is to replace them with honest, ordinary folk.
The centre is strong when the left and right are subdued.
It's the extremes that need each other.
And populism from left and right gave us Brexit... which has hobbled uk politics and given the govt no room for maneuver.
lol!
“lol!” -Crumpled Foreskin