From End of History to End Times

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor have a new piece titled The Rise of End Times Fascism in which they state: "the most powerful people in the world are preparing for the end of the world, an end they themselves are frenetically accelerating." In his book Down to Earth, the late French philosopher Bruno Latour ( much maligned by Andreas Malm) reports on what he calls the "neo-hypermodernists" who, like those oblivious wealthy folks aboard the Titanic, plan to grab all the lifeboats and watch all the rest of us drown. As they purposefully accelerate the destruction of the biosphere, they fantasize about their own survivalist utopia, whether in bunkers or on private islands or out in space. They are now consciously abandoning the world as they profit from its destruction. This nihilist/fascistic attitude fits nicely with the Christian Right vision of End Times Rapture. They celebrate the genocide of Palestinians as it facilitates the Second Coming, the replacement of the Al Aqsa Mosque and rebuilding of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Yes, lots of people believe this sick shit. Think Mike Huckabee. The point is, it all fits nicely with the prepper narrative of race war and replacement theory, MAGA idiocy around Fortress America and Tech-Bro madness around the Singularity. Cohesive in its incoherence. This is what Klein and Taylor call " monstrous supremacist survivalism" and it is now our collective reality. The War Room Bannon types might not understand all the hypermodernity shit and Artificial General Intelligence, and as fierce nationalists they may not get Seascaping and moving to Mars, but those in power know all you have to do is keep the proles entertained. Keep offering memecoins. The new Times/Sienna poll reports that 42% of voters describe Trump as "exciting". All you need to know.

The Most Creative and Most Destructive

You have to give Trump credit for his initiative, go big or go home! Don't fuck around, right? He has embraced the role of Disrupter and is pressing the accelerator all the way to the floor. Who does this, other than Al Qaeda or Isis maybe? Poor Liz Truss gave it a whirl, but she was a piker, a pretender. Not like our boy. And just as in the world of professional wrestling, there is going to be pain, or what the economists call "creative destruction". Lots of little people with their little dreams destroyed. All for the Greater Good, mind you. Capitalism has to clear out the dead wood every once in a while and guess what sucker! Hasta bye bye. This is why it is humorous to hear social psychologists like Jonathan Haidt say the problem with kids today ( besides smart phones) is a lack of moral order. Too much wishy washy leftist "relativism", as opposed to good old right and wrong. This ignores the rather obvious fact that the capitalist system within which they are embedded is totally amoral. The only guiding principle is might makes right. Dog eat dog. The whole "moral order" schtick is just for the proles. Kids see our "moral order" at work as we invade countries and drone strike "suspected" enemies, send them off to foreign prisons or execute them here at home. Or dismantle the already tattered social safety net. Or on and on. The NYTimes had a piece titled How To Protect Your Retirement, the unspoken subtext being you want to be rich to start with. For instance, it begins with the assumption you have one million dollars to invest. all the people living in their cars will need a different "retirement plan". What does "the resistance" offer? Support the Democrats and vote harder. For Corey Booker. They will promise to listen better, not mention trans people, cut back immigration quotas, forget the Green New Deal talk,etc... But they will just give us more of the same Compete With China, Build The Middle Class bullshit and nothing will stop the inexorable slide. Israel will remain free to annex whatever it wants, expel whoever it wants. Oil prices will fall and people will slash the tires of Teslas and the rain will continue to fall on Tennessee. It's not enough to say "No" or "Hands Off". This is what Pussy Hats said, what BLM said, what Occupy said. On the AFL_CIO webpage we read: “now is the time to be even louder” — but suggests no other action. Other unions are keeping their heads down as well. I went to a huge Bernie/ AOC rally and saw lots of people angry about oligarchs but none of the speakers were willing to suggest that gross inequality is just a symptom of a much greater problem. They kept railing against "the system" but they never gave it a name. Every body hates rich people but in capitalism, everybody wants to be one. The only ones willing to challenge the new tarriff regime is China and one suspects they actully have a plan. None of my money is in stocks but I do wish I had bought some gold a year ago.

Judaism, Zionism, Israel

Margarite Susman on the Zionist nation-state: "But with this warlike defense, as with the state which requires it, the people has absorbed a piece of the chaos alien to it, and thus endangered its internal existence more seriously than its external. By pursuing this way of life, it is participating in the bloody confusions and distortions of the world of nations so deeply anathema to it; it is participating in the curse of nationalism, in the growing petrification of life, in the apocalyptic cooling of hearts that is cooling the life of humanity. Can the messianic legacy still be managed in such a reality? Is it still possible—and this is the same question—to bring the simply human to fruition?" Susman wrote this many years ago, at the birth of Zionism, but what the nation-state of Israel is now engaged in, while plenty "bloody", can not be called "defense". Yet we know many Israelis, in their collective psychosis, would insist it is exactly that. As they abandon that "messianic legacy" for property acquisition through genocide, they destroy themselves as A People. The "mad bull" on a rampage is now attacking Syria, taking advantage of their new government and the geopolitics of the U.S. turning a blind eye, or wink and nod. The Zionists are attacking Lebanon, striking the heart of Beirut and of course re-occupying Gaza and soon the West Bank in an all-out campaign of ethnic cleansing and settlement by rabid reactionaries. From socialist exiles to militant expansionists in a matter of a few capitalist decades. Here in the U.S. the power of Zionist ideology can be seen in the attacks on critics and activists, on universities and lawyers willing to defend free speech rights. In true Orwellian form, to support the right of Palestinians to self-determination and a state is to support Hamas, terrorism and anti-semitism. The Israelis believe they can build an "iron dome" that will protect them from reality, from history, from justice and truth. This AIPAC fantasy is what comes with wealth and power and the corrupt relations they breed. But as much blame falls on moderate Jews who thought they could just put their head in the sand and ignore the injustice taking place for decades. But of course for Zionism to ally with MAGA Americanism is insanely short-sighted and will only lead to more tragedy and "common ruin". An ethno-nationalist project that depends on, thrives on, celebrates violent oppression can only lead to "the apocalyptic cooling of hearts" which is anathema to all that progressive Judaism stands for. As stated in rabbinical ethical teachings: “Be cautious with governments, for they bring a person close to them only for their own needs. They appear as friends when it benefits them, but they do not stand by a person in his time of difficulty.” Fundamentalists ( going back to my last post) lack the ability to hold two incongruent thoughts in their tiny minds, no matter which type of monotheist they happen to be ( including Islamists). The Christian Zionist fundamentalists can't wait for the Messiah to return, a wonderful Armageddon, forcing all the Jews to choose Christ or roast for eternity. Personally, I prefer the Easter bunny but the Jews need to be careful about which "friends" they choose. Or maybe it's too late for that.

Back to Fundamentals

In a world-historical sense, a dominant trend we are seeing globally can be described as fundamentalism. Whether in religious terms, such as the rise of Islamist, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian nationalist chauvinism or strictly cultural reaction, such as historical revisionism or support for "traditional" values, it is a turn away from complexity and pluralism towards simplicity and dogma. The rise of religious fundamentalism is truly terrifying if you are not a straight cis-gendered male. From Israel to Pakistan to Afghanistan to Bangladesh to America to India to Myanmar to North Africa doctrinal authority and the religious leaders who interpret various scriptures is on the rise. They are done with nuanced, secular, liberal rights that require balancing different interests or creating a social compact. They prefer tribes with strict, easy to follow rules. This is an obvious reaction to feminism in particular, where male power is challenged and threatened. Take the anti-LGBTQ backlash. In some places, like Russia or parts of Africa, it can mean death. “People were looking for explanations, and InfoWars offered simple, if outlandish, answers to complex problems.” According to the new tech-masters of the universe: "democracy is outdated “legacy code” that can’t keep up with modern complexity. The future, he and others argue, will belong to those who design and implement a superior system—one that runs more like a corporation." Simple hierarchies for simple minds.