Very interesting. The conviction that tech can directly unveil the real and bypass politics as a false mediation does feel more and more menacing.
It seems to me that Trump is less like the Strong Man than the popular clown who allowed various rightwing media domains––TV, social media, now podcasts––to become interlinked as a critical mass capable of defining reality apart from any contact with what they hive off as the "elite" (science, constrained journalism, academic disciplines). Now Musk steps in and gives a face to the monied interests who feel too constrained by the reality-based sphere and therefore financed the rise of this media world.
But Musk, unlike, say, Rupert Murdock, is also nutter and a conspiracist. It feels weirdly like there is a feed-back loop through which the world contrived by rightwing media-sphere is now the reality for all sorts of people who acquired their expertise and power from the world they no longer live in. Supreme Court justices and their wives. Finance titans with a holy calling to fire university presidents. Atheist tech lords who see demons burrowing in the minds of university students.
quite interesting that conservative intramural feuds can prompt some to call out the fascistic tendencies of others
i wonder if its related to this recent skeet by jamelle bouie: "i can feel myself slowly morphing into a social democratic george will. complaining about the lack of manners, consideration and due regard for others but from the left"
perhaps conservatives focused on how important public comportment and civic virtue was to the social fabric were right to warn against the coarse language and puckish nihilism of pop counterculture
which is why i think its useful to appropriate "decadence" and "degeneracy" from fascists to describe the state of trumpified conservatism
In recent years I have also thought about the critique of my generation’s counterculture rudeness. I was never of that culture aside from outward appearance and owning VW buses. I can be sarcastic and irreverent but rarely boorish and rude to people in public. I guess I took my cues from my parents that one didn’t act that way. But as times have hardened, I grew contemptuous of the Other side, whether in politics, teaching methodology, tastes in music, and, of course, sports. Today I find myself in a relatively progressive (whatever that means) community making friends, or at least acting civilly towards, with individuals without jumping into opinionated debate. Simply trying to deal with people where they are without compromising my beliefs and values.
Even though "we aren’t supposed to talk about 'authoritarianism' or 'threats to democracy' anymore ... ." such talk frequently refers to the "authoritarian leader" (Perot, Musk as aptly described above). But, the personality type that votes for / worships these monsters, a.k.a., "authoritarian followers," (see, e.g., Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarians) put the US on the slippery slope to "old hat." Arguably, the re-election of Dubya, the authoritarian leader about whom When the Clock Broke is prescient, was "The Day The Enlightenment Went Out" (see, Gary Wills, NYT opt ed, Nov 4, 2004).
Silicon Valley finally optimized authoritarian referenda — unlike in backwards Russia where Putin still needs warm bodies to haul themselves to the polling station (how ineffective!), the American citizens are able to see their pre-determined voting results on a slick app, all without leaving the couch!
I think often of a cartoon showing two Perot supporters staring at a mailbox in dismay. Caption: "They realized they just sent money to a billionaire."
Congress could avoid suicide (Trump/Musk assisted for sure), by a few Democratic votes. If done strategically, the Dems could be an institutional life preserver, a political plus & get some useful budget wins at the same time
Very interesting. The conviction that tech can directly unveil the real and bypass politics as a false mediation does feel more and more menacing.
It seems to me that Trump is less like the Strong Man than the popular clown who allowed various rightwing media domains––TV, social media, now podcasts––to become interlinked as a critical mass capable of defining reality apart from any contact with what they hive off as the "elite" (science, constrained journalism, academic disciplines). Now Musk steps in and gives a face to the monied interests who feel too constrained by the reality-based sphere and therefore financed the rise of this media world.
But Musk, unlike, say, Rupert Murdock, is also nutter and a conspiracist. It feels weirdly like there is a feed-back loop through which the world contrived by rightwing media-sphere is now the reality for all sorts of people who acquired their expertise and power from the world they no longer live in. Supreme Court justices and their wives. Finance titans with a holy calling to fire university presidents. Atheist tech lords who see demons burrowing in the minds of university students.
Bots populi bots dei.
There was a weekly standard article calling Perot a fascist
quite interesting that conservative intramural feuds can prompt some to call out the fascistic tendencies of others
i wonder if its related to this recent skeet by jamelle bouie: "i can feel myself slowly morphing into a social democratic george will. complaining about the lack of manners, consideration and due regard for others but from the left"
perhaps conservatives focused on how important public comportment and civic virtue was to the social fabric were right to warn against the coarse language and puckish nihilism of pop counterculture
which is why i think its useful to appropriate "decadence" and "degeneracy" from fascists to describe the state of trumpified conservatism
In recent years I have also thought about the critique of my generation’s counterculture rudeness. I was never of that culture aside from outward appearance and owning VW buses. I can be sarcastic and irreverent but rarely boorish and rude to people in public. I guess I took my cues from my parents that one didn’t act that way. But as times have hardened, I grew contemptuous of the Other side, whether in politics, teaching methodology, tastes in music, and, of course, sports. Today I find myself in a relatively progressive (whatever that means) community making friends, or at least acting civilly towards, with individuals without jumping into opinionated debate. Simply trying to deal with people where they are without compromising my beliefs and values.
Even though "we aren’t supposed to talk about 'authoritarianism' or 'threats to democracy' anymore ... ." such talk frequently refers to the "authoritarian leader" (Perot, Musk as aptly described above). But, the personality type that votes for / worships these monsters, a.k.a., "authoritarian followers," (see, e.g., Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarians) put the US on the slippery slope to "old hat." Arguably, the re-election of Dubya, the authoritarian leader about whom When the Clock Broke is prescient, was "The Day The Enlightenment Went Out" (see, Gary Wills, NYT opt ed, Nov 4, 2004).
Silicon Valley finally optimized authoritarian referenda — unlike in backwards Russia where Putin still needs warm bodies to haul themselves to the polling station (how ineffective!), the American citizens are able to see their pre-determined voting results on a slick app, all without leaving the couch!
I think often of a cartoon showing two Perot supporters staring at a mailbox in dismay. Caption: "They realized they just sent money to a billionaire."
Yay. I guess. Groan
Congress could avoid suicide (Trump/Musk assisted for sure), by a few Democratic votes. If done strategically, the Dems could be an institutional life preserver, a political plus & get some useful budget wins at the same time