Capitalism, neoliberalism, neocolonialism

[pipbarber]

I think it's important not to fall into a 'human nature' trap when thinking about political and social organisation. Beside it being demonstrably wrong, 'human nature,' or some pseudo biological imperative, is commonly deployed by those in power as a naturalistic justification for their domination. I remember our old mate of the electric guitar moniker falling under the bus of the IDW bullshit around the violent 'human nature' of men. It really is a dead end that often leads to conservatism (which is essentially a defence of power). There is something comforting, or perhaps anesthetizing is a better word, about throwing our hands in the air with resignation over how hopeless everything is because...'human nature.' Without that comfort, the tragedy of our situation is sharpened by the fact that could indeed have a different way doing shit, it is possible, of course it is, and yet here we are. So tragic.

[joele]

Beside it being demonstrably wrong, 'human nature,' or some pseudo biological imperative, is commonly deployed by those in power as a naturalistic justification for their domination.

Sorry not sure I understand if that was meant for my post? I'm not meaning to be argumentative, just want to clarify my position.

I wasn't saying it is human nature to be violent, but that letting humans have power over other humans is the problem, this is the basis of anarchism and why we shouldn't let people use "naturalistic justification for their domination" or any other justification to have power over others.

So I am not throwing my hands in the air to say human nature nothing will change, but rather - nothing will change if we keep vacillating between political or ideological systems that allow a minority to have power over people. That's what I am pessimistic about, that we continue to fight pointless battles between ourselves, distracting us from the fact that neither political side (in most countries) are keen to address the real problems in a meaningful way as they want power.

[pipbarber]

Not aimed at your previous post joele, more a general statement, a bugbear of mine that i'm overly sensitive to.

[joele]

Not aimed at your previous post joele, more a general statement, a bugbear of mine that i'm overly sensitive to.

ahh ok, sorry I misunderstood..

[stylofone]

Long rambling thoughts on the decline of civilisation. Too long, really. I don't mind if you don't read it.

Thinking about Biden's age issue, the UK election, Dutton's brutal killer instincts, the whole global catastrophe really, makes me wonder about a sort of biological human switch, where we collectively realise things are fucked and we need to change course in a major way.

Climate change is a big one. Basically everything we strive for is bad for climate change. Having children, having a job, building a house, saving up for your retirement, going on holiday. They are all bad. Even FIXING climate change is bad for climate change. Electric cars actually make it worse. Sure, they're not as bad as ICE cars, but their emissions are still huge. The energy transition also causes an increase in emissions while we build all those wind turbines and transmission lines and solar panels. They only pay off after the transition is complete, several decades from now. And unless we have green hydrogen to manufacture replacement renewable infrastructure when it gets worn out, we are still required to burn coal for things like metal processing. The timing of green hydrogen and green steel is not certain. Are they even viable?

Economic growth now makes people poorer. GDP bean counters don't care if the majority of people become poorer, as long as the wealthy minority get so much richer that the TOTAL amount of money goes up. Working hard doesn't get you ahead any more. Economic growth and prosperity as measured by governments are disconnected from the well-being of an increasing number of people.

Economic growth, "prosperity", and working hard also make climate change worse, so it's a double whammy.

My half-arsed thought is that there is a sort of collective instinct driving people to look for alternatives, be it an energy transition or a batshit crazy demagogue who promises to smash everything up. The massed supporters of both approaches really are on opposite sides, but they are driven by the same discontent. They're just reaching for very different solutions which are both wrong in different ways. The same people who voted for Brexit are now voting for Labour, although I think fewer people are deluded about Labour in they way they were about Brexit's magical promise of freedom and wealth and billions for the NHS.

The discontent can also manifest itself as a sort of seething rage directed at the likes of Trump or Biden or Musk or whoever embodies the forces of darkness. How can we fix this? Must we strive harder, vote harder, get out on the streets? But striving harder is what got us into this mess. Maybe we need a global movement of radical chilling out, slowing down. Stop and smell the roses. Stop buying things, stop working. Go to the park. Go to the beach. It's why I like the Chinese concept of Tang Ping. Or E.M. Forster's prescient science fiction story "The Machine Stops" written in 1909. Also one of the last bits of writing by the late David Graeber, linking his bullshit jobs idea to climate change.

https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/david- ... p-working/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_ping

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops

[pipbarber]

Stylo, I agree with every word above. David Graeber is the voice of our age who remarkably seems to be defying death. Two posthumous book publications, including the Dawn of Everything which I think is a masterpiece, and the articles keep coming. What a champ he is/was.

[pipbarber]

In retrospect i feel foolish for not seeing it coming. An unelected and unaccountable billionaire, the worlds richest person, dismantles the machinery of government thus moving neoliberalism from its 'small government' phase to its 'no government' phase (an obvious progression). All major decisions, including expenditure, move from the legislature to the executive and laws are broken and ignored without consequence. Perhaps we might say we are transitioning from neoliberalism into anarcho-capitalism.

Presumably, revenue to maintain military and policing, the only ideologically acceptable public expenditure, is derived not from income tax, which needs to be abolished, but tariffs, which is essentially a consumer tax.

(Quite a masterstroke that will be, the consumer pays for their own enslavement).

Other revenue raising options, given the US military budget will exceed the tariff tax, might include the good old fashioned protection game, that being, you need to pay us not to invade your shithole country. Anarcho-capitalism is a free for all and gangsters are extraordinary capitalists the we could learn a lot from.

The big question is around ambition. Is this an unending revolution or is it a brief opportunity for billionaires to plunder the state apparatus for all its got before they're chucked out of government? If the aim is longevity, elections will need careful management, if they can't be abolished altogether.

But...is anyone really planning any of this? I know about project 25 but thats the xtian nationalism faction. I suspect the anarcho-capitalists are just making it up as they go along but their basic intent is completely obvious.

Amazing times! Long ramble, seems fitting

[stylofone]

But...is anyone really planning any of this?

There's so much bullshit flying around. Does anyone know what Trump and Trumpism actually stand for? He is too inarticulate to spell it out. Musk is also a work in progress. Both of them are capable of the worst.

The chaos is disconcerting. It's tempting to predict that it will all go so wrong that the Trump Presidency will fall apart, and and then we'll be able to go back to normal somehow. But breaking things apart is what they want, it's been Musk's playbook. What looks like incompetence could be part of the plan. The more they fail, the further they tighten their grip. Certainly the Democrats show no sign of any substantial resistance at this stage, they seem completely ineffectual in the chaos. I think it's appropriate to assume the worst. This IS the beginning of a global destabilisation, maybe something as bad as WW1 or 2. If we end up being wrong, we'll be SO happy to be wrong.

Also, just how DO we get back to normal if the Trump-Musk chaos implodes? It would have to include something like impeachment AND removal by the Senate, also there would have to be tens of millions of people on the street, and what about SCOTUS and the military? None of that is in place right now.

(I note Ross Gittins thinks it will all blow over In 50 years, Trump will be remembered as just a puzzling footnote)

[pipbarber]

We can't go back to normal because normal is what got Trump elected in the first place. Normal is massive wealth inequality, cost of living pressure, growing poverty and ecocide. Trumpism is worse than normal and normal was/is fucking disastrous.

Once the machinery of government is broken it can't be repaired but it might be reinvented. It'll be a very new and different world at that point, i'm guessing.

[pipbarber]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... mic-growth

George Monbiot argues that inequality increases the appeal of the far right, and he has some stats to back it up. Really does make you wonder why the left adjacent parties continually fail to enact policies that reduce inequality. It's not exactly brain surgery is it. Increase tax on the wealthy and increase welfare and housing services for everyone else. Good for the economy and you'd get the added bonus of immunising the electorate from far right bullshit.