Recommended Reading: Captured States
Editor’s note: a semi-regular feature here on NIDC, Recommended Reading shares links to, and offers casual commentary on, two or more related news articles in a simple rundown blog.
Dystopian Visions of a Fascist Future
“Houston, we have a problem.” Far too many people are stuck on the idea that elections are a trump card in the war against fascism, somehow missing the fact that fascists are actively working to transform Pig Empire society in such a way that elections won’t be able to stop them. We already know that a defining characteristic of fascists is their total lack of respect for democratic process; rules are for you to follow and for them to dictate as they see fit. Because fascist efforts at societal transformation take myriad forms, I’m going to narrow the focus here to an approach known as “state capture”, and examine two different but surprisingly similar visions for what that looks like, provided by two different blocs in the larger American fascist coalition.
State capture more or less consists of seizing control of the institutions and instruments of governance that aren’t democratically elected in order to establish and maintain control over how society functions, and for whom, without needing to care which representative people actually vote for in faux democratic elections. For a more detailed explanation, let’s quote from the first article I’m going to share below:
“State capture is usually discussed in the context of international politics and countries with threatened democracies. Scholar Elizabeth Dávid-Barrett defines it as “a type of systematic corruption whereby narrow interest groups take control of the institutions and processes through which public policy is made, directing public policy away from the public interest and instead shaping it to serve their own interests.”
Right-wing state capture is increasingly a threat within U.S. states, which are systematically being taken over by Christian right leaders and their corporate and wealthy supporters through a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression, organized and coordinated propaganda, and privatization. Public institutions that often serve as venues for free debate and social change — such as libraries and universities — are under aggressive attack.“
In other words, we’re talking about controlling the behavior of the state at the root level, in order to create a specific type of society (in this case, a fascist society) and desired policy outcomes, regardless of what the people in that society or their elected leaders support. Which is of course totally consistent with how fascism, a top-down primarily *legalist* system of anti-democratic control functions; if you’re an American in particular, you’ve already seen this concept in action across a broad number of purportedly “non-political” instruments in your society – the courts, school boards, election officials, and so forth.
With all of that noted, let’s now look at two examples of how a state capture regime might function, from two superficially different types of fascists in the broader American fascist coalition.
First up is North Carolina, where noted sociopathic (the “some people need killin’” guy) Christian Nationalist, GOP Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has a very real chance of winning the gubernatorial election in that state this fall. I’ve written about Robinson in the past and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe him as one of the most dangerous fascists in American politics, as the article I’m going to share here will summarize well enough. In this post however, let’s just focus on the type of regime Robinson has promised to install in North Carolina if he wins the upcoming election:
Christian Nationalists Pursue State Capture — and North Carolina Is Exhibit A
“Robinson’s vision for North Carolina is a kind of Gilead from The Handmaid’s Tale: He dreams of Christian supremacy, openly enforced by both police and armed civilians. This brand of Christian nationalism would mean rolling back abortion rights even further; defunding public schools and severely restricting all school-based discussions of race, gender and sexuality; preventing trans people’s access to health care; deporting immigrants; increasing policing; and even taking up arms against what he describes as anti-patriotic and anti-Christian forces.”
While it’s true that much of Robinson’s agenda sounds like a fundie fascist fever dream, it’s important to understand that with his support, the GOP in North Carolina is already working to make Robinson’s dystopian vision a reality. GOP legislators have already overridden (Dem) Governor Roy Cooper’s veto to pass a 12 week abortion ban, passed a Parent’s Bill of Rights law that targets queer youth and forces teachers to become rats for the increasingly fascist state, and Robinson himself has been leading a sham “task force” to investigate supposed “woke indoctrination” in North Carolina public schools:
“After a brief period of “investigation” with no public meetings or even minutes regarding the process, the task force produced a report baselessly claiming that kids in the state were being indoctrinated with “critical race theory” and exposed to so-called white shaming and sexualization of kids, among other things.
In reality, the report cherry-picked submissions from conservative parents and teachers whose complaints included teachers posting Black Lives Matter signs, children being required to learn about racial discrimination and racial equity, counselors being given instructions on how to support trans kids, and even — gasp — a teacher telling his fifth-graders about having “two daddy’s and two mommy’s [sic] and how that was okay.”
Please keep in mind that Mark Robinson hasn’t actually become Governor yet; his vision for what he intends to do if and when he does claim power is even more unhinged and openly fascist. Furthermore, Robinson’s agenda has widespread support from interested parties who stand to benefit financially from his twisted agenda:
“Education advocates are angry about this infringement on their freedom to teach and support students as they see fit — and equally concerned about the GOP’s underlying agenda of increasing school vouchers and offering them to wealthy families while shifting funding out of the public school system. A bill that would shift hundreds of millions in school funds from public schools to vouchers is currently stalled in the state legislature.
While right-wing politicians are shrouding all these actions in preachy morality, their long-term impact is actually to defund public schools, creating — over time — an ill-informed and disempowered electorate with little power.
Meanwhile, the wealthy whites and business interests who back people like Robinson use the state’s limited regulation, low taxation and rock-bottom minimum wages to line their own pockets. Special interest groups like police unions and privately run charter schools gain both political power and state funds, as in a recent move in which UNC Chapel Hill defunded DEI programs and shifted that money to police.”
Look, I don’t think it’s exactly news that the GOP “arch-conservative” who calls LGBTQ people “filth,” promotes Holocaust denial, and demonizes Muslim Americans as invaders is bad news for North Carolina’s democracy. But the changes Robinson and the state legislature are pursuing here are all specifically designed to permanently lock in a fundie fascist social and political order that will effectively supersede the results of future elections. Yes, these freaks have political control of the state now, but they’re actively working to ensure that their vision for a Christian Nationalist society endures beyond future election results, and overrides the individual rights of anyone living in North Carolina. Right now, they’re succeeding in that endeavor.
Moving now from Mark Robinson’s state capture vision for a permanent Christian Nationalist regime in North Carolina, I’d like to go back to April of this year to take a look at what a Silicon Valley Tech Authoritarian vision for the same type of society, established with similar methodology, might look like.
If you’re not familiar with the world of rich Tech Bro fascists, and the “philosophers” that drive their worldview, it’s entirely possible that you’ve never heard of Balaji Srinivasan. I assure you that fascist billionaire Tech muppets have heard of him, and in fact think he’s a genius with a ton of brilliant ideas that will benefit them, at your expense. One of his most popular ideas (among Tech authoritarians at least) is the concept of a Network State, which is literally some CyberPunk 2020 corporate state bullshit described as “a plan for tech plutocrats to exit democracy and establish new sovereign territories.” If you’ve caught wind of the well-funded campaign promoting “California Forever” to create a Tech baron controlled city in Solano County, you’ve already seen these freaks trying to make that concept a reality. Oh, and before I forget, I should mention that Balaji is also a proponent of a plan to take over the government of San Francisco and transform the city into a dystopian fascist colony ruled by reactionary Tech muppets just like him.
Let’s take a closer look at Srinivasan’s ideas with an eye towards understanding how his proposed takeover of San Francisco and the larger concept of Network States are just another fascist’s variation on the State Capture concept we’ve been discussing here already:
The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues”
“What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,” he said, after comparing his movement to those started by the biblical Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Theodor Herzl (“spiritual father” of the state of Israel), and Lee Kuan Yew (former authoritarian ruler of Singapore). Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. “And if you see another Gray on the street … you do the nod,” he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray.”
You should definitely read the whole article because I don’t have enough energy here to detail all the obviously fascist nonsense Balaji is talking about doing to San Francisco, but a brief rundown would include bribing police to enforce his vision of society, restricting access to portions of the city to loyalists, aligning with Republican interests (who he calls the “Reds,” isn’t that clever), and transforming liberals and folks he doesn’t agree with into second class citizens (the “Blues.”) This fascist muppet even details a whole top-down propaganda campaign to ensure the marginalization of his political enemies, including renaming streets, putting up statues to commemorate his enemies’ failures, and screening propaganda films designed to marginalize his opposition and enforce the Tech Bro authoritarian worldview. Like many modern fascists, Srinivasan actively demonizes the media and agitates for the creation of rival news outlets designed to push his dystopian ideas and positions; a proposal that will seem quite familiar to anyone who studied the rise of the actual fucking Nazis in interwar Germany, for example.
Whether by establishing their own new cities, or taking over existing political structures, what Srinivasan and the billionaire tech fascists who adore him are talking about here is another form of the very same state capture style of wielding political power as the systems Mark Robinson and the GOP are installing in North Carolina. These dystopian plans are both blueprints for establishing a permanent “Pork Reich” in which the rights of everyday individuals, including their democratic rights, are wholly superseded by the whims of reactionary capitalists and powerful fascist blocs controlling these power structures at an institutional level. Both Robinson’s and Srinivasan’s plans bear all the hallmarks of a fascist regime, including dismantling what passes for our democratic rights, material enforcement of the party line, forced political indoctrination into an objectively fascist worldview, and active marginalization and suppression of anyone who doesn’t agree with that fascist worldview.
There was a time in Pig Empire political life when plans like these would be recognized for the fascist batshittery that they are. Today however, with the support of powerful coalitions of Christian Nationalists and TechBro authoritarians, they are entirely too close to becoming a reality; and if these guys get their way, voting won’t be enough to stop that.
– Nina Illingworth
Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.
You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, and on Mastodon.
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