On Medium: Modernity Secularizes the Axial Age’s Moral Absolutes
Here's an article about the varieties of progress from apocalyptic judgments to technoscientific advances, and how the modern world secularizes ancient revolutions.
Hoping to get your input on the political shifts that are taking place. We saw a billionaire celebrity, who is supporting the AFD in Germany, throw the heil sig yesterday, on the day of Martin Luther King, on the day of the inauguration of an American President... it seems almost unbelievable that someone of such great influence would do something so brazen, almost ritualistic, while a mindless public cheers him on.
I wasn't thinking much of the accusations against the current right, but I think it's time we had a serious public discourse. Breads and Circuses for the masses; the signing executive orders on camera for public consumption.
While Nazism isn't exclusive to antisemitism, I am still curious to hear how you are interpreting what is happening, especially given your Jewish background and the personal nature of the matter. As a bystander, it's becoming unsettling to me. Is the ghost of fascism really coming back?
Well, I don't think the Trumpian authoritarians are fixated on Jews, so they're far from being Nazis in that respect. Nazis scapegoated the Jews, but Trumpers scapegoat immigrants, transsexuals, the media, Trump's critics, and so on. Then again, Netanyahu's Trumpian audacity in Gaza has provided ammunition to anti-Jewish leftists all over the world.
What intrigues me is that mocking the Trump movement's grotesqueness and incompetence may be a stage in fascism's rise since I suspect that Weimar liberals mocked Nazis for their effrontery, too, before they came to power. The mockery only strengthens the authoritarian movement since it demonstrate the elitism that plays into the populist demagogue's hands. If Trump's policies succeed, he'll take all the credit, and if they fail, he'll blame everyone but himself. Either way, the Democrats are far too decadent and professional to win the propaganda war with such outright psychopaths. What defeats right-wing populism, when the economic situation is unfortunately suitable for its ascent, seems to be war since the demagogue excels in the art of persuasion.
Hoping to get your input on the political shifts that are taking place. We saw a billionaire celebrity, who is supporting the AFD in Germany, throw the heil sig yesterday, on the day of Martin Luther King, on the day of the inauguration of an American President... it seems almost unbelievable that someone of such great influence would do something so brazen, almost ritualistic, while a mindless public cheers him on.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't thinking much of the accusations against the current right, but I think it's time we had a serious public discourse. Breads and Circuses for the masses; the signing executive orders on camera for public consumption.
While Nazism isn't exclusive to antisemitism, I am still curious to hear how you are interpreting what is happening, especially given your Jewish background and the personal nature of the matter. As a bystander, it's becoming unsettling to me. Is the ghost of fascism really coming back?
Well, I don't think the Trumpian authoritarians are fixated on Jews, so they're far from being Nazis in that respect. Nazis scapegoated the Jews, but Trumpers scapegoat immigrants, transsexuals, the media, Trump's critics, and so on. Then again, Netanyahu's Trumpian audacity in Gaza has provided ammunition to anti-Jewish leftists all over the world.
DeleteWhat intrigues me is that mocking the Trump movement's grotesqueness and incompetence may be a stage in fascism's rise since I suspect that Weimar liberals mocked Nazis for their effrontery, too, before they came to power. The mockery only strengthens the authoritarian movement since it demonstrate the elitism that plays into the populist demagogue's hands. If Trump's policies succeed, he'll take all the credit, and if they fail, he'll blame everyone but himself. Either way, the Democrats are far too decadent and professional to win the propaganda war with such outright psychopaths. What defeats right-wing populism, when the economic situation is unfortunately suitable for its ascent, seems to be war since the demagogue excels in the art of persuasion.