An Antidemocratic Philosophy Called ‘Neoreaction’ Is Creeping Into GOP Politics

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared at The Conversation.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1426211
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Depressing, but interesting . . . and depressing.

I’d run into accelerationism in connection with how to think about the impact(s) of new technologies (think AI and automation of workplaces) on the social order. The idea is that tech is changing/advancing so rapidly that we simple cavepeople can’t speak with authority about tech or, therefore, how it will change the world, so we should just, to borrow a phrase, try to sit back and enjoy it. (You can tell I’m not a big fan of that kind of thinking–especially when the pitch is that tech is supposed to make our lives “better.”) Anyway, it’s easy to draw the analogy between that attitude and the political one espoused here.

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So we have some new labels and rationales for some very old ideas.

“The net effect of this language system was not to keep these people ignorant of what they were doing, but to prevent them from equating it with their old, normal knowledge of murder and lies.” – Hannah Arendt

Ecclesiastes was right.

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Let’s start with the SCRAP Act.

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I’m pretty sure these types of articles made the rounds in 2012-2015 as well. So, while this not actually anything new, or anything that is really happening, it doesn’t make me feel any better about 2023 upcoming.

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Neo this and ism that.

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Creeping? More like full fledge charging…

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This is an extension of the economic argument that far-right Conservatives have been making for a while- that all the money is eventually going to end up in the hands of a very few rich people, so it goes against some sort of natural law of economics to try and stop that. Call it “Inevitablism”*.

“Neoreaction” is an extension of Inevitablism to the political sphere.

  • a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nihilism.
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A conservative out of power is a libertarian; a conservative in power is a fascist. When they are in power, they are extremely frustrated by any constraint–the constitution, courts, the “deep state” (federal experts) and Congress–to privatize Social Security, limit federal power, etc… Appointing a “temporary” dictator in that context has appeal. Look at how the Chicago School economists laud the retirement policies of Pinochet.

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Yarvin is perhaps best known for his concept of “the cathedral” – his term for the U.S. ruling regime. Yarvis argues thatvirtually all opinion-makers, most notably those in academia and journalism, are essentially “reading the same book.” In an essay for Tablet Magazine, Yarvin wrote that what’s often characterized as the “marketplace of ideas” is actually a “monoculture” that props up an oligarchy.

It is pretty easy to see through this. His real concern is not that everyone is singing from the same hymn book. It is that people aren’t singing to HIS hymn book.

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This philosophy is communism, people. While the GOP is viscerally turned on by blond, blue-eyed Nazi types as circle jerk material, everything they do is prompted by Communist Party ideology.

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In that case, why wait?
Congress could legislate feudalism now, and assign the Reichwingers and all of their ‘property’ to various lords starting tomorrow.
They could still find some satisfaction in having been right all along.

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Something that was mentioned in the piece, and which I’ve been thinking about for a while, is this weird funhouse mirroring by the right of rhetoric I would expect to hear from the left. “The system is run by psychopaths,” for instance, is something many have used to describe the capitalist system. From the socialist perspective, the argument is a good one (see “The Corporation,” among many others). Coming from the right it seems nonsensical, even if you accept their grievances at face value. So they want to take away your guns, promote LGBTQ rights, and give away free healthcare… because they are psychopaths? Does not compute.

I usually chalk this stuff up to projection, but there is another factor to consider. As the piece points out, reducing faith in institutions, and increasing the likelihood of upheaval, is a means to an end. So in an odd way, parroting the language of the left creates a strange kind of kinship, where both sides are stabbing at the center, with the goal of destroying it. If similar conflicts from the 20th century are any guide, the assumption is that, when the revolution comes, their faction will be organized, while the the left will be split, ergo they win.

This is not to say that the current system is not sclerotic and incredibly corrupt, it is. But there is perhaps a lesson here for the revolutionary left.

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The road to fascism is lined with people telling you to stop overreacting.

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Yes, it’s always the soulless minions of orthodoxy.

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EXACTLY!!!

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I have trouble with the headline “Antidemocratic Philosophy Creeping into GOP Politics”.

Whatever you choose to call it, since embracing racism the GOP has been an antidemocratic party. Remembering that the major reason Trump voters think the election was stolen is not that Trump received more votes than Joe Biden but rather because Trump received more WHITE votes than Joe Biden.

That is “Racism” and “Democracy” cannot honestly coexist together. So in regard to the “Deplorable” base of the GOP, it does not matter what excuse you give, they are in fact antidemocratic because they are who they are.

I end with the conclusion of a Paul Krugman article from March on Republican love for Putin and his debacle in Ukraine but must add that unlike Krugman I long ago lost hope:

“Which brings me back to America’s erstwhile Putin admirers. I’d like to think that they’ll take Russia’s Ukraine debacle as an object lesson and rethink their own hostility to democracy. OK, I don’t really expect that to happen. But we can always hope.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-ukraine-russia-usa.html

Oh wait just a second, there is also this from Krugman 5 years ago which basically says if Trump was more competent we would already be an autocracy.

Economist’s View: Paul Krugman: What’s the Matter With Republicans? .

It has become painfully clear … that Republicans have no intention of exercising any real oversight over a president who is obviously emotionally unstable, seems to have cognitive issues and is doing a very good imitation of being an agent of a hostile foreign power…, there is not a hint that any important figures in the party care enough about the Constitution or the national interest to take a stand. …

What’s the matter with Republicans?

Obviously I can’t offer a full theory here, but there’s a lot we do know…

First, … the … G.O.P. … is one branch of a monolithic structure, movement conservatism, with a rigid ideology — tax cuts for the rich above all else. Other branches of the structure include a captive media that parrots the party line every step of the way. …

And this monolithic structure — lavishly supported by a small number of very, very wealthy families — rewards, indeed insists on, absolute fealty. Furthermore, the structure has been in place for a long time… What this means is that nearly all Republicans in today’s Congress are apparatchiks, political creatures with no higher principle beyond party loyalty. … Republicans … went all in behind Trump, knowing full well that he was totally unqualified, strongly suspecting that he was corrupt…, and even … now, with the Trump/Flynn/Comey story getting worse by the hour, there has been no significant breaking of ranks. …

Does this mean that Trump will be able to hold on despite his multiple scandals and abuses of power? Actually, yes, he might. …Republicans won’t turn on Trump unless he has become such a political liability that he must be dumped.

And even if Trump goes, one way or another, the threat to the Republic will be far from over.

In a perverse way, we should count ourselves lucky that Trump is as terrible as he is. Think of what it has taken to get us to this point — his Twitter addiction, his bizarre loyalty to Flynn and affection for Putin, the raw exploitation of his office to enrich his family, the business dealings … he’s evidently trying to cover up by refusing to release his taxes.

The point is that given the character of the Republican Party, we’d be well on the way to autocracy if the man in the White House had even slightly more self-control. Trump may have done himself in; but it can still happen here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/whats-the-matter-with-republicans.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

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Conservatives in government have spent decades trying to hamstring it, so naturally the government is less efficient. Plus conservative personalities have promoted this anti-government rhetoric, so their followers believe all their problems lead back to DC. A self-fulfilling prophecy.

The fact is, the GOP was long ago predicted to be on the losing end of demographic changes. They have systematically alienated every minority, as well as most women. They are losing power organically just because of how democracy works, and have only clung to power through a combination of propaganda, gerrymandering, and general dirty tricks. They are reaching a breaking point. They know they can’t keep up these tactics indefinitely, so it’s either seize power violently or face always being the political step-child.

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Yarvis argues that virtually all opinion-makers, most notably those in academia and journalism, are essentially “reading the same book.”

And the solution is to have everyone literally reading from the same book, my book.

I see that while I was away for a bit @exspectator posted the same observation.

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Are we having the wrong debate? Given the impending collapse of our democracy – which simply can’t function with one party firmly opposed to it – monarchy may be inevitable. So let’s debate who the monarch should be. My nomination: AOC. We need to end democracy before the Republicans ever gain control again, not after – which it surely will if they do. God save AOC!

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