Hmmm. . .
It is fascinating the lengths some folks will to go in order
to:
a) legitimize their prejudices
and
b) dignify their fantasies.
Writing for The Point magazine ("Final Fantasy:Neoractionary Politics and the Liberal Imagination")
James Duesterberg
introduces us to the “neoreactionaries”, the pseudo intellectual branch
of the alt-right who played a significant role in getting Donald Trump elected
and poisoning the political discourse.. It’s an intriguing read – Duesterberg deserves
a medal if he actually read all those tracts – but it what it all boils down to
is this: the neoreactionaries are a bunch of nerds who’ve watched the Matrix
too many times.
That’s it. These guys think
they’re Neo. The world is the Matrix – or “Cathedral” as they call it - and
they can rip it apart. There’s all kinds of bloated reasoning behind it –
millions of words of it apparently – but that’s what it boils down to. The world around us – specifically Liberal
Democracy -is an illusion foisted on use by. . .Cthulhu apparently (I’m not
joking), and we are brainwashed to accept it. Naturally they see “political
correctness” as a kind of Newspeak designed to lull us into believing the
illusion. Nothing new there. But it’s not just pc: they’ve no patience for
democracy or freedom either. Basically any notion of civility gets their gander
up. We’ve been brought up to believe these are good things, spoon-fed it from
birth to keep us from envisioning anything else. Nothing to do with liberty or
self determination, or even common decency – it’s all brainwashing. The Matrix
has you.
I will say this much: it’s never
wrong to ask questions. It’s never wrong to question your surroundings, or
notions you were brought up with, or consider other possibilities. When I first
read Nineteen Eighty Four as a teenager, the thing that disturbed me
most was not that the people were enslaved, but that didn’t seem to realize it.
They even enjoyed it. So the question burned within me: if I were
enslaved, how would I know it? So it became very important to scrutinize
everything any politician said or did, to question every social construct, no
matter how deeply ingrained or self evident, and to basically take nothing for
granted.
Despite all that, I never ended up
as much of a radical. I basically came to the conclusion that the world wasn’t
so bad; not perfect to be sure, but a damn sight better than what came before
and most of what else has been proposed. You will notice in Duesterberg’s
article that the neoreactionaries apparently cite the economic success of China to claim democracy is unnecessary (as if economic success
were the only point of society). This isn’t Panglosiism; it’s just keeping
things in perspective. The corollary of always asking questions is to learn to
accept the answers supported by the best possible evidence. That’s why 9/11
truthers aren’t actually questioning anything – they’ve just switched one set
of assumptions for another.
 |
| Nothing is as it seems |
Which brings me back to the
neoractionaries. They’re not questioning anything in any useful or constructive
way – they’re removing barriers to their prejudices and rationalizing their
assholery. (They apparently argue
slavery is natural as well.)
 |
| In his house at Ryleh, dead Cthulhu invents liberal democracy |
Is ironic or appropriate that these folks claiming reality
isn’t reality exist entirely online? I mean, turn off your computers and go
outside ffs! Also notice that aside from the occasional mention of Hume, their
main influences are The Matrix and “Call of Cthulhu”, two fiercely middlebrow[1]
works of fiction. While they’re lecturing us on the nature of reality, their
lives have been defined by works of fantasy. They’re a lot more like LARPers
than Revolutionaries – nerds trying to bring their fantasies to life.
(At least LARPers admit they’re only pretending).
It would be tempting to laugh off these losers. Trouble is,
they believe their fantasy, and are acting on it. They’ve formed voting blocks
based on it, and treat their fellow humans accordingly – like shit. They will
not engage you in a civilized debate – for them, civility is just Cathedral
propaganda, and you are an agent of Cthulhu. An enemy. Remember in the
Matrix when Morpheus told Neo that the other citizens of the Matrix were
“all enemies”? Basically giving him license to slaughter anyone he met? That’s
how the neoreactionaries see you. Your criticisms of Trump? They know them:
they love them. They think it’s all wonderful.
Those are the folks we’re dealing with. Your worst fears are
exactly the kind of world they want.
[1] That’s not meant to be a
snobbish dismissal. I love Lovecraft! But he sure as hell ain’t no basis for a
political philosophy.
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