- Joined
- Jul 1, 2017
The problem with the right-wing is that they don't identify the root of the problem we're facing and offer no solution. That root is the changing technology that obsoletes our post-WWII way of life through automation, enabling of mass surveilliance, etc. Obviously the Fox News solution where banning CRT and promoting "traditional values" doesn't work, because it isn't targetting the root cause. Neither is the racial solution of your Nick Fuentes types, because once again, you aren't focusing on why demographics are changing. Blaming the Jews is just a simple cop-out, you won't magically restore the trad-world if you make it 6 million more or whatever.Yes. I think the real question is what comes next. From both a social and economic standpoint. It's clear that our economic practices are unsustainable. We are irreparably damaging the planet while billions live in poverty. Ultimately we must learn to live with less. But at the same time, be proud to own it. I think that distributism mixed with corporatism is a good going off point. Also by corporatism I don't mean sucking up to big companies I mean the "we are all part of one social body" corporatism that tries to alleviate class conflict. Small businesses tend to be more down to earth and while they still have a profit motive they tend to be less cut throat. But none of that will matter if we can't revive the West spiritually and culturally. My biggest fear is that we are not on track to do that. It seems that in a collapse scenario the alt-right will be the victor, or rather the faction that gains the most. And I don't think they are up to the task of restoring the West. They are essentially doing the white man's ghost dance by focusing on race and demographics.
I think it's because a lot of this is best analyzed with a left-wing lens. You need to notice that this society is powered by a particular sort of capitalism where the ultimate winners of the past (bankers, megacorps in various fields) have consolidated. You also need to notice that any competition requires joining this cabal of elites simply to raise the colossal amount of money necessary. The barriers to entry in so many fields are simply huge these days because of the cost of technology alone that it's cheaper to pay the big corporations the necessary money to run things. This makes joining the capitalist class nearly impossible, enshrining them as a new sort of nobility.
Now that's not to say socialism is the answer. I thought it was at one point, but Marxian socialism and its offshoots (Trotskyism, Maoism, etc.) are concepts for an earlier age and are purely utopian ideals doomed to fail. Arguably Marx was right that socialism was inevitable, but wrong about the result. The elite adopted the elements of socialism they liked, stopping short of true revolution (that probably wouldn't have worked anyway) but leaving us with a thoroughly socialistic society in many aspects, including rampant corporate welfare and the revolving door between big business and regulative bodies which is akin to the technocracies found in the late USSR or outright corrupt management of state corporations in third world socialist states in Africa and Middle East.
A lot of socialists also neglect the role culture plays in these things in favor of materialism. Culture (including religion) holds a lot of keys to why societies work and why societies fail. Our cultural values have obviously rotted from the inside, and we need to figure out a way to restore it. Probably this means a mix of authoritarian decrees and soft cultural manipulation. Unfortunately, the latter is what the progressive left excels at.
We need to solve the cultural maladaptionism, where we see things like mental illness promoted as normal, obesity considered a good thing, etc. The people in charge like it because it weakens us and makes us money, but it's extremely dangerous. It happens in societies under stress, like the cattle-killing movement among the Xhosa in the 19th century where they destroyed their primary source of food and livelihood or the destructive potlatches among Northwest Coast Indians in that same era, where instead of the chiefs spreading their wealth they simply burnt it all instead. It was also (at times) promoted by the colonialist group as a means of weakening these native cultures and making money--poor and starving Africans and Indians don't fight back, they buy shit from you instead. And just like those proud societies became the violent thugs of South African townships or useless drunks of Canadian reservations, our society is headed in that direction if they have their way.
What's needed is some alternate vision that offers a human-friendly society while not trying to fight the course of technology. I don't think you even can fight this technology, because even if in theory you banned it all, other countries (China) won't and they'll outcompete you simply because this tech is so potent. You can't make your nation like some West African states in the 19th century did where they banned anything even remotely "modern" in favor of traditional Islamic culture. That's how you lose your civilization, just like those West African states did.
How do we get there? We probably need to start with a vision and try and figure out the steps. I'd say the height of prosperity was 1950-1975, the "golden age of capitalism," where the West enjoyed the most prosperous and equal society in all human history. Obviously, a lot of things are different--manufacturing simply can't supply those well-paying jobs anymore (we can and should obviously do better, but it's never going back to the 1950-75 era), and that's where we need to make compromises along the way in what this society looks like.