Even more predictable than the rise of fascism around the globe has been its sharp descent into infighting and bickering
~ Sourdough ~
The coalitions that had propelled the far right resurgence have begun to break down. With Elon Musk’s recent split from Trump, the tech right is acting like a microcosm of how fascism, cemented once again within state power, will work. Having failed to successfully cut the federal government’s spending by his intended $2 trillion —–and jumping ship to rescue his flailing stock prices—the rapid deterioration of Musk and Trump’s relationship has become something of public laughing stock.
What likely began as a feud over electric vehicle subsidies, and ostensibly the budget deficit, soon climaxed in Trump’s top campaign donor accusing him officially of being a paedophile, and top Trump stooges calling for Musk’s deportation. Following this blow-up and subsequent celebration, however, there has been a period of détente, and it grows increasingly likely that the feud will simply be paved over and forgotten to allow the right to be re-integrated.
So what does this mean for those of us without the carefully calibrated amnesia of a fascist?
The first takeaway is that the fascists are not as secure in their position as they may seem. The brutality they so often express outwardly will repeatedly turn inward once their self-styled ‘drive for action’ becomes momentarily unsatisfied. Fascism thrives on conflict. By perpetuating conflict and a general state of warfare against the human race and human mind, fascism may distract from its immiseration of even its most fervent supporters, an outsourcing campaign of diversion, whether cultural, ideological, or based on people’s external features.
To fuel its forward propulsion, fascism must continually cannibalise itself and its supporters. No easier can this be seen than in the Nazi’s ‘Night of the Long Knives’, when the brownshirts who had done their utmost for fascism to gain power were liquidated by the same monster they had helped to create. Although not its first victims, the fascists themselves will inevitably be their regime’s last.
The second takeaway is that fascists have no solidarity, or if they do it is the solidarity of vultures. The world is for now their rotting corpse, and they are only allied so long as it helps them pick it clean. In a worldview where opportunism and strength overwhelm all other urges, constant backstabbing and jockeying for power are inevitable. Fascism is foremost an ideology of victimhood—at the hands of foreign and internal enemies. By victimising others, and outsourcing their suffering to someone lower on the ladder, fascists overcome their own humiliation as well as ensuring their inevitable place among future victims.
Rather than banding together in solidarity, fascism teaches survival of the fittest and permanent war. It is the perfect ideology for capitalism’s de-classed: increasingly isolated, materially impoverished, and always angry. Instead of solidarity fascism teaches a sort of ‘individualism of fools’: you are special and unique, and yet something is foiling your flourishing, and therefore you must outsource your agency to these great men who now control your fate, squabbling on television.
The struggle for the liberation of humanity—for a stateless, classless society—must also include liberating people from the hold of these dangerous ideologies. Not out of sympathy, but simply as a byproduct of our desire to free all humanity from all forms of oppression.
As our enemies engage in warfare amongst themselves, they demonstrate how un-sustainable their own system is. No doubt this infighting will continue to grow, even if for now it is hastily forgotten and contained. The death of fascism will come by a thousand cuts, many internal. The more they struggle to enact and shape their despotism, the more they will fall on and victimise each other. We must continue to resist in any way possible. Give nothing, and you give them the weapons to harm themselves. The way forward is through the mouth of the fascist beast together, while it chases its own tail.
Image: Parrhesiastes CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
