Our new totalitarianism is a slightly different topic, but related. You're right, though.
At some point last year it occurred to me that, while a lot of us were distracted by Trump and waiting for him to get around to fulfilling his campaign promises and lead a Populist revolt against the "Professional Managerial Class," a totalitarian state had been imposed upon us. Then the BLM/Antifa people were allowed to go on a rampage of violence and destruction through our cities, with the only consequences being that an increasing number of apps, stores and websites, from Audible.com to homebrew supply companies, are ordering me to "Celebrate Black History." And, oh yeah, I'm afraid that even writing something as mildly critical as this may cost me or my wife our jobs.
I'm willing to be wrong, but I think that the "Fourth Turning" or the cycle of Anacyclosis or whatever you want to call the Big Change that everyone was waiting for is already accomplished. The new order looks like the post-9/11 surveillance state, now run by both federal agencies and unaccountable private corporations, made universal, and with medical, racial and environmental justifications replacing most of the original rhetoric about "terrorism." The new ruling class consists of an amalgam of the old PMC, now purged of all ideological noncomformists, with new leaders from the technology companies, the surveillance bureaucracy and the racial and gender grievance organizations. And they accomplished their coup in broad daylight by waving the orange man and his red-hat supporters about like a magician's wand.
I have no idea what to do about this yet. Probably we need to think very carefully about what our actual goals are, what we can actually accomplish, and pair Sun Tzu with thinkers like William Lind.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2021-01-20 07:13 pm (UTC)At some point last year it occurred to me that, while a lot of us were distracted by Trump and waiting for him to get around to fulfilling his campaign promises and lead a Populist revolt against the "Professional Managerial Class," a totalitarian state had been imposed upon us. Then the BLM/Antifa people were allowed to go on a rampage of violence and destruction through our cities, with the only consequences being that an increasing number of apps, stores and websites, from Audible.com to homebrew supply companies, are ordering me to "Celebrate Black History." And, oh yeah, I'm afraid that even writing something as mildly critical as this may cost me or my wife our jobs.
I'm willing to be wrong, but I think that the "Fourth Turning" or the cycle of Anacyclosis or whatever you want to call the Big Change that everyone was waiting for is already accomplished. The new order looks like the post-9/11 surveillance state, now run by both federal agencies and unaccountable private corporations, made universal, and with medical, racial and environmental justifications replacing most of the original rhetoric about "terrorism." The new ruling class consists of an amalgam of the old PMC, now purged of all ideological noncomformists, with new leaders from the technology companies, the surveillance bureaucracy and the racial and gender grievance organizations. And they accomplished their coup in broad daylight by waving the orange man and his red-hat supporters about like a magician's wand.
I have no idea what to do about this yet. Probably we need to think very carefully about what our actual goals are, what we can actually accomplish, and pair Sun Tzu with thinkers like William Lind.