In the days following the January 6th Coup or the Insurrection or the Whatever-The-Fuck-You-Wanna-Call-It, I was listening to any Leftist podcast I could get my hands on. I was trying to find a satisfying take on the Storming of the Capitol/Capitol Coup/Riot/Whatever. I was mad and kinda scared and looking for some guidance on how to feel and what to do.
Chapo Trap House, my go-to Leftist podcast (and favorite podcast overall), left me cold with their takes. They persisted in mocking people for freaking out about it, which they really seem to revel in. I mean, yes, they’re right that the Capitol Stormers (I kinda like calling ‘em that cuz it sounds like a cool name for a sports team.) were oafish buffoons who weren’t gonna take over shit, and this isn’t Fascism… yet.
Which reminds me: Hey, MSM (Mainstream Media)! Stop calling them “insurrectionists”! You’re making them sound a lot cooler than they are. I guess it was an insurrection, but the MSM are so fucking oblivious. They really think treating these people like an actual threat to overthrow the government is gonna make the rest of us think less of them.
Don’t get me wrong. The Capitol Stormers were a bunch of fucking idiots who did more harm to their cause than good. They were people who thought Donald Trump actually cares about them and has been fighting for them. Anyone who thinks Trump cares about them is an utter moron, politically speaking.
On the other hand, the MSM (like the rest of us) have to pull off a delicate balancing act. If you treat the Capitol Stormers as a genuine threat to democracy, you risk inflating their power. They’re probably taking some pride in the scare they gave the Establishment. The fact that the talking heads on TV seemed to be shaking in their boots surely gave the Stormers a giddy thrill. This could also give people the impression that the Stormers were effective and are worth supporting.
If you dismiss this mob as a bunch of fucking morons, you run the risk of not taking them seriously enough. Dismissing them could lead to more anger at being ignored by the Powers That Be. This could also lead to ignoring the threat they pose if they continue to grow in strength. It could also make them a cause celebre, since there are a lot of people who already hate the MSM (myself included) and will gravitate to anyone the MSM denounce.
But at what point can we take this shit seriously? When exactly should we be afraid? How far down the road to Fascism do we need to be?
I think I was awaiting marching orders from Chapo. I wanted their permission to hit the streets and start the Revolution. You could say I’m in a similar headspace as the Capitol Stormers. I share their misery and desperation. Granted, the mob wasn’t exactly chockful of working stiffs. There were a lot of rich folks in there, small business owners and the like.
They may be well-off compared to most of the country, but they’re certainly feeling the squeeze with the pandemic and worried about losing their position and being “proletarianized,” becoming workers like the rest of us. (Full Disclosure: These are takes I stole from the aforementioned Leftist podcasts.) The last thing the “small business tyrants” want is to go from being the ones giving the orders to the ones taking them. That prospect must scare the shit out of them, the idea that they could become subject to someone else like them, that they could be at the whim of someone with the same predilections.
But, if you know history (or listen to Chapo), you know that the petit bourgeoisie are usually the driving force behind Fascist movements. They have a vested interest in maintaining the current economic system, which means crushing the Left and any labor movements. The US government, police, military and MSM have spent decades crushing the Left and organized labor, thereby helping to lay the groundwork for Fascism.
Fascism arises in the absence of an effective response to the needs of the majority, what we in the US have called “gridlock” for almost 30 years now. Just as the Weimar Republic was either incapable of or unwilling to relieve the suffering of most Germans, so are the Democrats and Republicans either incapable of or unwilling to relieve the suffering of most Americans. Only policies that address our widespread economic precarity will take us off the road to Fascism.
Cracking down on “disinformation” and “extremism” (as defined by the Establishment) will lead to a further narrowing of acceptable political discourse. Remember: This is the same Establishment that believed Iraq had WMD and the only way to eliminate that threat was war. These people aren’t your friends. Even if they’re condemning FOX News, Newsmax and OAN (One America News) right now, that doesn’t mean they’re on your side, Libs.
The corporate elite still has a stranglehold on political power and refuses to even loosen its grip. As we saw in 1930’s Germany, they would sooner bring the whole thing crashing down on their heads than let go of the Levers of Power. Let’s hope we can steer off this course before they get their death wish.
