Weak Coup

It wasn't that long ago my inbox was filled with dire warnings of a Trump coup, perhaps an armed uprising and even civil war. I was advised to form a resistance committee prepared for street fighting. These romantic imaginings had the forces for Good standing firm against the Brownshirt hordes. Besides the obvious question of fight for what? Defend capitalist "democracy" and "the rule of law"? Defend the Democratic Party victor Joe Biden with my life? (Don't think so) we have to ask: doesn't this fear of a fascist takeover spring from the same irrational place as Q Anon? Is the divorce from reality now universal? Those wild speculations were built on imagining Trump forces as an exponentially magnified version of the guys with flak vests and "assualt-style" weapons that showed up to "protect" rallies in various towns around the country. Some were "mobilized" here in Montana, where they managed to get their pictures on the front page of newspapers and local tv blurbs. No doubt they were pumped up about the opportunity to display their toys and virility and to be part of a patriotic brotherhood of sorts. To have a mission, to find some meaning in a chaotic world. But as Trump threw his tantrum these guys went with the vote count. I imagine their militia networks were saying "stand by", waiting for exactly the kind of provocation certain Lefties were hoping to organize (but thankfully failed). So instead of potentially violent confrontation, we saw Trump lawyers jump into action and the whole "uprising" fizzle spectacularly. Of course. I suspect those who identify as Antifa are bummed, but it was so predictable that I am now wondering: are the folks who sent the emails evaluating and analyzing their action?

The Structure of Experience

Poet Anne Winters describes "a change in the structure of experience", a phrase which I believe helps us think about the rise in various populisms, now morphing into ever more radicalized political expressions. Liberals naturally bemoan the trend. And they are correct in pointing out the danger to their precious stability. But these new radicals are the direct result of liberalism's ill-considered embrace of accelerated techno-capitalism. There has been a qualitative shift, a jarring speed-up in the "structure of experience" and that blind, euphoric optimism that social affects could be managed through science and expertise has proven disastrous. It is an ancient story, the socerer's apprentice, Pandora's Box, Faustus, Fankenstein or Icarus. Drunk on confidence that the way forward is clear, just mix modern finance with technological wizardry and everyone will enjoy the fruits of our special genius. What could possibly go wrong? But the cry of our age is Slow The Fuck Down! All authentic politics, left or right stems from this one desperate plea. When the inner workings, the algorithims and physics and economic formulas are beyond our comprehension, multiplying at rates impossible, to absorb, rational response will slip over to the irrational, the illiberal, the fantastical and finally violent reaction. So when we hear these warnings from the status quo about the threats to law and order we can ony shake our heads in wonder. You are just now realizing the danger? Really? It's not just the whining of us old idiots. We joke that young people can help us program our devises, help us install the latest software, de-code the crazy jargon, but they are suffering their own special hell. Immersed in instant media and the frantic flux of cyber life, they are the guinea pigs for this profit driven experiment. The crisis of meaning has been delayed by expanded credit and mountains of things, stuff, fluff, noise and games. But as it unravels expect wierd. And pain.

Why Not Tents?

The picture in the Missoula Current of volunteers erecting a new camp for the houseless is both/at once terrifying and heartening. Such is the state of humanity in late capitalism. A combination of outrage and empathy pressures the system to find a "solution", however temporary, to The Problem ( public relations disaster, property values, public health, define it according to your ideology) Marshalling effort, technology and readily available materials, an instant, efficient camp is erected. This scene is enacted across the globe as humanitarian agencies erect massive refugee camps for the displaced and dispossessed. "We know it's not the answer" say the "celebrating housing advocates. "The camp wouldn't be necessary in a perfect world" writes the well-meaning liberal reporter. Migrants press at the edge of camps that become permanent. or catch on fire. Or get raided by fascists. Because a "perfect world", where everyone is housed, is so unreasonable, so utopian and idealistic. How could it possibly be? The Poor Will Always Be With Us is the Christian mantra. A world divided into winners and losers goes the neoliberal capitalist mantra. "The answer" is too far out of bounds to contemplate so we "celebrate" the tents and porta potties. Donate items. Pitch in to help. Because you can't have frozen people dying in the streets of the wealthiest nation in the history of the planet. That too would be unacceptable. People would start to question "the system", adding to that growing list of "systemic" problems (racism, inequality, hunger, etc) What the starry eyed call injustice. And so we call on charity, that tiny kernel of selflessness, altruism, sympathy or philanthropy (possible tax exemptions?), latent in the late-capitalist heart, to relieve misery in the present moment. Not to be confused with "mutual aid", the material exchange being one-sided. But truly heartfelt. And terrifying. Drop a coin in the Salvation Army bucket. Meet the eyes of the freezing bell ringer. It's not going to get better.