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kant · @kant

111 followers · 277 posts · Server kolektiva.social

"This is the role Trump plays for this class: he shocks and upsets the whole system, frightens and distracts, whips up mobs, and prevents the coalescence of popular power. As John P. McCormick puts it, “Republics are usually ruined because the grandi empower a prince to help them dominate the people when laws and institutions are no longer at least partially sufficient to this end.” Trump is just such a “prince.” And, as the power of organized labor grows and control over social media platforms is contested and sometimes controlled by the middle ranks of the tech-platforms, I suspect more of the grandi will be curious and friendly towards the “prince.”

"The Right’s cultural politics should be understood in this light, as well. This is the origin of the constant scorn on the values and lifestyle poured on the “PMC” and young middle class who find themselves either precarious or proletarianized and therefore might see themselves in solidarity with workers. All of the supposed “cultural” differences between these classes are emphasized, endlessly insisted upon, and picked apart. Any public intellectual who can master this basic formula immediately finds great gobs of cash and attention at their disposal. This is because any possible cross-class alliance or even the gradual fusion into a single class is particularly perilous for the oligarchy, largely because college-educated workers have access to cultural and social capital that can increase the efficacy of the workers’ movements."

"Trump’s appeal to the “working class” is precisely a form of cultural politics in the same way. He usefully divides “the real workers,” based on the old idealized 20th century image of the working class, from the “underclass” and their allies in the “professional-managerial class,” the key component of Rothbard’s right-wing populist strategy. But in this case what counts as “working class” is often more a case of “blue-collar” aesthetics than actual structural position in economy. As Melinda Cooper has pointed out, Trump’s coalition should be understood more as an alliance between private business big and small, between the modest family firm and great dynasties of wealth—grandi piccoli and grandi grandi—both of whom have a shared interest against restive employees’ pesky lawsuits and labor organization and the regulatory bureaucracy of the state that makes those possible, not to mention journalists who might be sympathetic to the workers or report unfavorably on their business practices."

-- John Ganz, "Letting the Beast Out" (2022)

https://johnganz.substack.com/p/letting-the-beast-out

#anarchism #marxism #analysis #history #machiavelli #culture #antifa #AntiFascism

#anarchism #marxism #analysis #history #Machiavelli #culture #antifa #antifascism

Last updated 3 years ago

Original post

kant · @kant

108 followers · 275 posts · Server kolektiva.social

"This is the role Trump plays for this class: he shocks and upsets the whole system, frightens and distracts, whips up mobs, and prevents the coalescence of popular power. As John P. McCormick puts it, “Republics are usually ruined because the grandi empower a prince to help them dominate the people when laws and institutions are no longer at least partially sufficient to this end.” Trump is just such a “prince.” And, as the power of organized labor grows and control over social media platforms is contested and sometimes controlled by the middle ranks of the tech-platforms, I suspect more of the grandi will be curious and friendly towards the “prince.”

"The Right’s cultural politics should be understood in this light, as well. This is the origin of the constant scorn on the values and lifestyle poured on the “PMC” and young middle class who find themselves either precarious or proletarianized and therefore might see themselves in solidarity with workers. All of the supposed “cultural” differences between these classes are emphasized, endlessly insisted upon, and picked apart. Any public intellectual who can master this basic formula immediately finds great gobs of cash and attention at their disposal. This is because any possible cross-class alliance or even the gradual fusion into a single class is particularly perilous for the oligarchy, largely because college-educated workers have access to cultural and social capital that can increase the efficacy of the workers’ movements."

"Trump’s appeal to the “working class” is precisely a form of cultural politics in the same way. He usefully divides “the real workers,” based on the old idealized 20th century image of the working class, from the “underclass” and their allies in the “professional-managerial class,” the key component of Rothbard’s right-wing populist strategy. But in this case what counts as “working class” is often more a case of “blue-collar” aesthetics than actual structural position in economy. As Melinda Cooper has pointed out, Trump’s coalition should be understood more as an alliance between private business big and small, between the modest family firm and great dynasties of wealth—grandi piccoli and grandi grandi—both of whom have a shared interest against restive employees’ pesky lawsuits and labor organization and the regulatory bureaucracy of the state that makes those possible, not to mention journalists who might be sympathetic to the workers or report unfavorably on their business practices."

-- John Ganz, "Letting the Beast Out" (2022)

#anarchism #marxism #analysis #history #machiavelli #culture #antifa #AntiFascism

#anarchism #marxism #analysis #history #Machiavelli #culture #antifa #antifascism

Last updated 3 years ago

Original post