Re: <nettime> Not One

[mp <mp@aktivix.org>]

On 10/10/2020 16:37, Brian Holmes wrote:
> 
> So in the end, I agree with Zak a lot more than I thought at first, but
> still not entirely. You ought to post more often, Zak.
> 
> Solidarity, Brian

I don't know what Zak meant exactly and there are certainly immediate,
good reasons to vote for Biden (and hope his health won't last Harris be
presidenta) - and if for nothing else, then for the joy of seeing Trumps
face in defeat.

Zak made me think about the system as such.

What does left and right represent other than a legacy of the spatial
room distribution of the two elitist groups that constituted the
National Assembly that killed the French Revolution?

If we suspend disbelief about higher powers at play - beyond agency and
conspiracy - and think of the political system known as liberal
democracy as an intelligent (gaia like?) beast that tends towards an
equilibrium in order to sustain itself and continuously distribute power
and privilege disproportionally. [For that is its purpose and intent,
right?].

Then what could fascism be?

Imagine fascism as a mask that the elite puts on when the forces of
exploitation and extraction have spawned too much unrest and rendered an
otherwise obedient body of people unruly. When the rate of dispossession
becomes unpalatable, when the addictive and soporific effects of grain
(bread and beer) and circus no longer can contain the domesticated
masses, something has got to give. It seems.

Instead of liberalism giving in, however, the fascist mask comes on.

Fascism "presents itself" as a threat, as a far worse proposition, and
even some rebels who used to operate outside of society, and of course
everyone within the political spectrum not consumed by fascist
fantasies, including academics, now favour a return to liberal democracy
- how else can they keep their jobs and their cushioned existence?

"Look, I know liberalism/capitalism is bad, but don't be insensitive,
this is worse, we must return".

Captured, then, we are in a pendular swing of things. No transcendence.

Fascism as a mirage. Liberalism as a clear-sighted response. Forth and
back. So history goes and ensures repetition. Fascism makes liberalism
sustainable. Desirable.

So, "they" - the Trumpists -  might intend to bring the system down, as
it was suggested, but they might effectively just be recalibrating it.

Even though he was awarded the Nobel prize, I still like him, so here goes:

"...Oh, but you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all
fears,

Bury the rag deep in your face, for now's the time for your
tears..."
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