I was recently linked to an article from the New York Times titled "Don't Believe Him" by Ezra Klein.
(it's a good read, even if I think Klein doesn't take the coup idea as seriously as it may actually be today)
Klein begins by reminding us of the Trump strategy, as described by Steve Bannon as "muzzle velocy": overwhelm the public and the opposition with absurdity, keep them chasing outrage, and while the public is chasing, get your dark deeds done. Imagine a government run by sleight of hand, like the government were operated by the man with three hats and one ball at the county fair, overwhelming you with motion, movement, and distraction so you can't guess the right hat.
It's deeply discouraging to even imagine, and yet here we are.
There is a way to make sense of this madness however, and that's through identifying the dimensions of the Trump threat, from its smoke and mirrors to its very lethal and real dangers. If we can identify these dimensions, then we can develop not just efficient responses that identify what type of danger they pose, but also relieve the personal and emotional stress, as we realize that for many of these things, we've seen them before.
In other words, we need to develop a tactical theory of the Trump regime.
So let's put some of the puzzle pieces together. There are two big ideas that, I believe represent the Trump platform.
- Project 2025 (P25) and its basis in white, christian nationalism.
- "Dark Enlightenment" (DE), also referred to as the butterfly revolution: the philosophical underpinnings that define the end-goal of the new cesspool of techno-fascists like Musk
(you should read both of these Wikipedia articles. How f_cked up what they describe is fitting for how f_cked up the regime is behaving).
It should be pretty obvious now that the Trump regime is a mixture of white christian nationalism and wannabe techno-autocracy. If you do get a chance to read these Wikipedia articles, it should be quite unsettling. If both of these were to be made true by the combined might of a state under siege and the vast wealth of the autocrats as accelerationists, then the effects are apocalyptic to everyone not a white christian nationalist.
But this is why we can't let the muzzle velocity tactics hide what we really need to watch out for. Develoing a theory that each of us can practice is essential so we can make judgments about what is merely smoke and mirrors and what we must dedicate energy to.
I will be probing more into each of these philosophies in future blog posts, but for now, here are some quick ideas based on my study:
- Much of the "cultural war" is going to be fought at the state level, and trickle down into communities IMO. Communities are a lot harder to target by federal action because many of the institutions that are enemies of P25 are embedded in the communities and serve roles that people locally appreciate. Think libraries, health care centers, immigrant support orgs, etc... A hostile state government can enforce the will of a hostile administration. A supportive state government can provide shelter. Pay particular attention at the state level to action, and even more so at the community level, and watch out for larger organizations attempting to "astroturf" an issue.
- The oligarchy will work more at the national level however, and we can see this with Musk's behavior. I don't have to talk too much about it, as it has been getting the attention it deserves. Pay particular attention to any attacks on industry deregulation, particularly with regards to the tech industry.
One last closing note: if you look closely, P25 and DE are actually incompatible as broad systems of so-called governance, but with the right elbow grease could work together.
It is our duty to stop it. I'd like to help figure out how.
~Just a fool on a bike
