Field Notes: It Is Happening Again

 

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Quickshot Quotations: It Was Never About the Facts

 

Today’s quote comes to us from anti-authoritarian scholar Hannah Arendt, and her most important theoretical work, “The Origins of Totalitarianism.” While the book itself is quite dated and I’m not really here to talk about it today, I can honestly say that “Origins” has been a priceless tool for myself and many others, seeking to analyze this current fascist moment in Pig Empire history.

Speaking plainly, it’s also safe to say that Arendt is a controversial figure in literary history. Furthermore, I don’t subscribe to her view that there is an equivalency between Nazi Germany, and Stalin’s Soviet Union; and I say this as a socialist who actively opposes the small but annoying authoritarian communist wing of our community. Her writings about fascism in particular however are an invaluable resource and you can clearly see the influence of her work in the thoughts of other anti-fascist scholars, like Umberto Eco, and say Jason Stanley today.

What interests me on this fine Autumn afternoon however, is what Arendt is saying about fascist propaganda and its openly antagonistic relationship with the truth, here in this quote. While intellectually it’s easy to understand the reactionary idea that fascists seek to dictate even reality itself, I don’t think most people have spent much time working to understand the profound damage this fascist political technique has on a society already committed to a “choose your own adventure” form of personally deciding what is true, thanks to capitalist media. This in turn called to mind another quote by a controversial scholar who studied reactionary thought and propaganda, Jean-Paul Sartre:

“Never believe that anti-Semites are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. The anti-Semites have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.”

Of course, neither Arendt nor Sartre specifically use the word “fascist” in these quotes, their primary frame of reference here however is quite literally Nazism, so it’s fair to say the reactionaries and anti-Semites they’re talking about, are definitely fascists – give or take Arendt’s obsession with Stalin, who was admittedly a pretty bad guy.

The important point to grasp in both of these ideas however, is that for fascist political actors, ideologues, and propagandists (including those in the mainstream media,) it’s not just about lying to win; it’s about altering the foundational definition of what is truth for political advantage and ultimately, power. I don’t know about you, but to me this would seem highly relevant to a society currently facing down a fascist movement organizing against the teaching of Critical Race Theory in kindergarten, the forced gender reassignment of American children, and ruling class liberal elite Satanist pedophiles who drink baby brain juice; all things that objectively do not exist, but are nonetheless driving the fascist march to power in Amerikkka as we speak.

Want further proof that we’re living in a society that is wholeheartedly embracing fascist political techniques? Then look no further than the mainstream media narratives around the upcoming American Midterm elections. After the Biden administration has spent just under two years deflecting the complaints of betrayed progressive voters by bringing up his administration’s laser-like focus on economic issues, the media is now blaming falling polls for Democrats on talking about abortion rights, trans issues, and the January 6th fascist coup attempt. Furthermore, it’s working; an objectively fascist party is on the verge of seizing the House, and quite possibly the Senate, because Americans are pretty sure the unhinged nazis who think Bill Gates is microchipping their kids with vaccines, are somehow “better on the economy.” After all, that’s what the media told them to believe; even the ideologically “liberal” media.

The truth is not the point, and that’s why factchecking has done nothing to stop the fascist tide. The point is power, and you generate that power by controlling the narrative; this is what post-truth politics really looks like, and what both capitalist reactionaries, and open fascists in our society, are seeking to accomplish.

Of course none of this is to say that Joe Biden is a good President, or the Democrats have any real answers to fascism whatsoever. But it is quite amazing that we’re on the verge of an open pogrom against trans people, and armed “patriots” are watching voter drop-boxes in Arizona, and the for profit media’s focus here is screaming “it’s the economy, stupid” at a President whose been screaming the same thing at the nominally left flank of his party, without a care in the world for what a fascist future under folks who hate the media, and believe power is truth, might look like.

Unfortunately it would seem that the capitalist media will *also* sell the fascists the rope with which to hang them.

 

 

Nina-Bytes: The Impending Rule of Unreality

Yesterday on my Facebook Journal, I published several discussions that touched on what it means when fascist lies, fantasies, and conspiracy theories acquire the force of law, and with it real power to distort our supposedly democratic society. Today then, let’s look at a couple of articles that demonstrate what fascists weaponizing “unreality” in the political process actually looks like, and why that’s a very ominous sign in a Pig Empire actively falling under overt fascist rule.

First up, let’s take a look at this October 24th, 2022 article about the Pennsylvania GOP’s most recent attempt to impeach Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, written by Akela Lacy over on the Intercept:

Larry Krasner Impeachment Committee Relies on Widely Panned Journal Study

Frankly I don’t want to wade too deeply into the left wing side of the debate about the so-called “progressive prosecutor” movement here; you can be certain that American fascists aren’t tossing their cookies about guys like Krasner because of his insufficient commitment to prison abolition. As the article notes, what we’re really talking about here is an establishment Republican (and conservative Democrat) attempt to remove a marginally progressive official they loathe, explicitly against the will of his constituents; who surprise, surprise, aren’t affluent white fascists:

“Monday’s report is the latest step in a series of yearslong efforts to curb Krasner’s power or remove him from office entirely — despite the fact that the progressive DA was overwhelmingly reelected a year ago. Krasner’s attempts to implement criminal justice reforms and address the underlying causes of mass incarceration have made him a target of lawmakers from both parties since his election in 2017. As removal efforts built steam among Republicans, state House Democrats joined the opposing party last month in voting to hold Krasner in contempt for his refusal to comply with a subpoena in the impeachment efforts.”

While this all looks very official, the twist here is that almost every accusation against Krasner is pure nonsense. The arguments being used to impeach Krasner are based on fascist election propaganda about crime, conspiracy theories, and a politically-motivated study that’s been widely debunked by data scientists. It’s not just about Larry Krasner either, research shows that there is literally no evidence linking progressive prosecutors to rising crime rates in cities anywhere; which exposes a lie that underpins the entire unhinged fascist attack on any prosecutor that so much as utters the words “bail reform.” Bonus points if you guessed that this “moral panic about crime as politics” operation is secretly about race; because it is.

In other words reactionary politicians are transforming lies, into the force of law, for the purposes of actively violating the democratic will of Philadelphia voters; which is precisely what legally and politically-empowered fascism in progress looks like. Why is that bad news even if you don’t live in Philly? Because as this October 25th, 2002 article by Kaleigh Rogers at FiveThirtyEight points out, fascist fantasy as the law of the land seems poised to strike well beyond the mean streets of Pennsylvania:

Most Candidates Who Think 2020 Was Rigged Are Probably Going To Win In November

If you’ve read my writing, you know I loathe “horse race” political coverage as much as anyone reading this does, so let’s not waste too much time on this piece of fluff. The important point we need to take from this article is that over a hundred Republicans pushing the objectively fascist “Big Lie” about the 2020 election, are about to take real political power in Amerikkkan society;

“Luna is one of well over a hundred of candidates running this fall who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election and have a strong chance of winning their race. Of the 185 Republican candidates running for House, Senate and governor’s seats who have denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election, 124 — or 67 percent — are in races our forecast currently pins at “Solid R,” meaning they have a 95-in-100 or better chance of winning. Overall, a bigger share of election deniers are running in Solid R races than Republican candidates in general: Of the 496 Republican candidates running for House, Senate and governor, 225 — or 45 percent — are in Solid R races.”

As you can see, this problem isn’t really about Democrats versus Republicans, but rather a Republican Party happily nominating fascist conspiracy theorists in safe seats, over pretty much every other type of reactionary on offer. This is not only evidence that the party as a whole has embraced fascism, but also a deadly perilous moment in American history. Fascists stand on the verge of legally declaring their reactionary propaganda and conspiracy theories the understood law of the land, and no amount of “respecting the standards and norms” is going to protect us from that kind of nightmare.

 

 

• nina illingworth

 

Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.

You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog

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“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”