Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Imaginary and Symbolic Cowboys
My comrade has brought Tragedy, Farce and Lacan into the discussion so let's unpack the Bundys a bit further. On the surface we have the basic Bitterroot Freeman Patriot whose ideological foundations go clear back to the timber wars and "multiple use" and printing their own "script" etc. Being a Bitterrooter I am something of an expert and have even included one of these characters in my novel (for all you publishers looking for the next best seller!)It is basically the politics of resentment with a fierce spiritual dimension (LOVE their country and Constitution, would DIE for it, etc) It is really quite beautiful aesthetically, in a Quentin Tarantino sort of way. Islam and the New World Order and Waco and it just goes on and on.
But I want to go a little deeper, get into a little murkier water as it were, and propose that on the mythological level these patriots are a reaction to modernity and at the subconscious level they play a role similar to Donald Trump as a reaction to feminism and the deeper anxiety/disavowal/repression/ transference of emasculation/castration. These psychological categories are a little hard to incorporate into our political project but unless they are acknowledged that project will remain...frustrated. Trump is just the largest incarnation but notice how all the conservative candidates for President are putting a greater stress on toughness, hardness, endurance, etc. you get the picture, Chuck Norris could win the primary in an instant.
For the guys with guns and white hats and deep nostalgia for that which never was, "local control" is both hating socialism and hating all the new genders (which feminism opened up) which demolish the strict order they found refuge in. Exposing the lack, their true powerlessness in the face of the Big Other. Locally their are no "Queers", no commies, no vegetarians and the good old Missionary position. Because everything is moving too fast. Enough pop psycho babble for one day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I spent about 3 hours last night boring a hole in my head, scanning the comments section of a prepper/gun rights/patriot website. Fell asleep and had a dream I was a home invader. Today at the gym I began fantasizing about an online blog and comments section antagonism team called the American Communists of 'Murca.
ReplyDeleteI feel the "populist temptation" strongly. These patriots are, Facebook reminds, overwhelmingly the people I grew up with and even still now frequently work with. The aesthetic appreciation for their Tarantino-ish, spiritual fierceness... I live that. I wish I could feel so certain. It does feel innovative to realize that political unity with their type of thinking is a false hope.
"Aren't the Far Left and Far Right seemingly in agreement in many ways? Isn't the political spectrum really a circle with two almost touching points?" The relevance of any spatial analogies for the political spectrum seem to dissolve at the point you try to add this unconscious and mythical level to the solution. Last night reading comments I was taken aback by their claims about their other's (the libturds, the blacks, the jews, the feminists, the commies, the gun-takers, but most frequently the libturds) mythical and unconscious dimension.
They very openly try to conform to a John Wayne definition of manliness. And it does unify.
Ugh.
I'm pretty confident that I "know" these people as well, having worked on ranches and in the woods and in construction for so long. Sat through so many insane lunch hour conversations. The Zizek piece is the perfect entry point because ranchers especially are contradictions within contradictions, nested infinitely. Ravalli County commissioners have brought in speakers to talk about sovereignty, I remember when they loaded up "the shovel brigade" to send to Jarbridge Nevada during another confrontation. They are taught to be humble but deep down they believe their "way of life" is superior and creates superior Individuals.
Delete