This right-wing counterrevolution has been on the move for a long, long, time. This is from my deceased partner Professor Harvey Wheeler in his book "The Politics of Revolution" published in 1973, almost 50 years ago. "The trouble with revolutionary negation is that it is at a serious disadvantage in confronting counterrevolutionary negation. The counterrevolution knows what it wants; the revolution does not. Revolutionary negation now extends not only to the establishment but also to planning for what might supplant it. The DANGER is that the rebellion may grow and even become quite effective without producing positive supplementary and alternative institutions. Lacking a positive program, it promises to succeed only in bringing the wrath of the establishment down on it in a wave of repression and reaction. The most alarming prospect facing us is not revolutionary chaos but a new wave [like a Tsunami, my addition] of counterrevolutionary FASCISM."
Professor Wheeler was the Program Director at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara.
Thank you so much for all you do Ruth. I'm a man whose been under 'no' illusions for a very long time; a result I suppose I can attribute to a so far, long life of insatiable curiosity. I do hope that your readers fully understand the gravity and accept that this all was only very likely "Act 1" in the attempt to subvert our country and world. 'They' came so close they can nearly taste their victory and enough so to sustain their self righteous efforts, part of which includes re-energizing / riling their soldiers and making new converts. I would not wish to induce any panic though, just education, truth to values, hope for the very best, but do keep your powder dry. Be prepared to be resolved and resilient for the long haul. At some point realistically, academics may have to give way to actions - I hope not, but I do see focused, determined, organized and well funded forces opposed. Thanks for what you do so very well in factoring the issues and educating. May providence continue to grace you friend.
I've been moving around a lot lately and just catching up on some of your articles I put aside, Ruth. I had not previously read your prescient "forecast" article for CNN on Feb. 1, 2017, predicting a coup. You laid it all out right there - and here we are. My great fear is that we will have violence in the streets. I hate being in the middle of crowds...I was pregnant with my second daughter when I went to Midtown-Manhattan to see Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro and got caught with people pushing against me, I felt terrified. A woman I didn't know took my hand and led me out of the crowd and I never went to another crowded event.....until the Women's March in 2017...out of my comfort zone but absolutely engaged and energized. I would be willing to march again but not for the fear of violence. People are emboldened to carry weapons. I was listening earlier today to Gaslit Nation, catching up with that, also. They had a number of listeners on who are doing work all over the country to help save our democracy. Just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, fighting the tide of authoritarianism (and lunacy) that is smacking all of us in the face. In response to John Raymonda, no, I don't believe we will get through this crisis without shooting in the streets. At the end of the summer, I gave up all cable news. I couldn't stomach the ongoing stories about Trump. It seems the news organizations just couldn't help themselves. Last night my husband started shouting, "Ruth, Ruth is on!" We watched you on Ali Velshi. I'm glad you are on the news more frequently. I hope more people will listen and check out Lucid. I thank you for having this forum, for generously sharing your wisdom and insights, and for the Lucid community.
PBS Frontline's updated 'American Insurrection' gives a birdseye view of events following Charlottesville leading to 1/6 & provides support for Ben-Ghiat's fears.
It is a call to action for every law abiding citizen to fight & vote against the forces of the misinformed and disturbed.
“Jan. 6,” together with the Comments, presents a rich overview of the causes of “America‘s path away from democracy.” RBG considers these causes in terms of a “Right-Wing Counterrevolution”: and of a “reaction” to “a crisis of White Christian male authority,” and a reaction against “the movement of history toward freedom for all.”
Henry Giroux cites neoliberalism as a cause, as does Steve Rasmussen, who also cites “collective psychosis.”Professor Giroux further cites the “ideological bedrocks of the counterrevolution” that “took place in reaction to the sixties.” (He also mentions “the radical merging of culture, power, and technology,“ and “subjective and cultural conditions,” though without elaborating.) Gary Kloner cites demagoguery, commercial and social media, and propaganda. Jamie cites the decay of the role of the arts. Ivan Priaulx cites (the inaction of) law-enforcement, unofficial militias, and Putin. hw cites “a weak opposition party and a compliant media ecosystem,” as well as the absence of a charismatic pro-democracy leader.
One might add some other factors to this list. One, there is the plutocracy. A tiny elite has an unprecedented amount of wealth and power. The ruling principle of elites in every society has always been, “Everything for us and nothing for anyone else.” The American and global plutocracy has been savagely and remorselessly implementing this principle with accelerating success since the Carter years. Therefore they have everything to lose. They are not about to defend democracy, because they never wanted it in the first place; if we lived in a democracy, they would be ordinary citizens, not plutocrats. Their ascendancy has been threatened since 2008, when the abominable nature of their reign finally became manifest to everyone—right, center, and left. Like the plutocrats of the first half of the 20th century, they view right-wing authoritarianism as a necessary defense against the revolt of the masses. As foolish as their counterparts in government, they assume they will not suffer under authoritarian rule. Under President Trump’s nascent autocracy in 2020, Jeff Bezos could have given every one of his nearly 1,000,000 employees a bonus of $100,000 and still had as much money as he had had 10 months earlier. In 2020 the wealth of the roughly 660 billionaires in America increased from 1 trillion to $1.5 trillion; and Putin wasn’t here to imprison any of them on bogus charges. From their perspective, they have everything to lose and nothing to gain under democracy.
Two, there is the permeation of international governments and economies by flagrant elite criminality. In the savings and loan financial scandal of the 1980s, hundreds of criminal executives went to prison. In the incomparably larger global financial collapse of 2008, exactly one executive went to prison. Instead, these criminals were appointed by Bush and Obama to head the recovery, assuming responsible for about $30 trillion of everybody else’s money, which they then used to handsomely reward themselves and consolidate their power. A Bloomberg News reporter wrote that instead of receiving invitations to head to recovery effort, they should’ve received subpoenas. They are still running the American economy. We are already living in a gangster state, like Russia and China. Does anyone think our plutocrats want to clean up the conditions that lead to authoritarianism? Lloyd Blankfein, former head of the criminal organization known as Goldman Sachs, said that if Sanders were nominated, he would vote for Trump. Sanders could comfortably fit into a center-right party in Western Europe, the kind of party that long ago helped implement the policies he advocates that are too radical for America.
Three, there is the fact that the rise of right-wing authoritarianism is global. No explanation of the rise of American authoritarianism can be adequate if it does not take into account what is happening in the rest of the world.
Five, there is the loss of American global preeminence, accompanied by endless military humiliation, both caused in large measure by imbecilic, sociopathic, and psychotic national leadership since the end of World War II. A good king is one who wins his wars (consider our reverence for Washington, Lincoln, and FDR). It is a great mistake to underestimate the consequences when any king loses his war, thereby inflicting perceived national humiliation on his people. Consider Nixon. The time when Biden‘s approval ratings collapsed was when the debacle in Kabul occurred last summer.
It will require decades of international scholarship in history and other disciplines to sort these causes out (including separating the primary from the secondary and from the incidental and contingent). (Even then there will inevitably be a great deal of disagreement.) WH Auden famously wrote, in “September 1, 1939”: “Accurate scholarship can / Unearth the whole offence / From Luther until now / That has driven a culture mad, / Find what occurred at Linz, / What huge imago made / A psychopathic god.” But suppose we could read the conclusions of future scholarship now. Would that really help us?
Every analysis I have read that seems credible ends in the same place: neither our government, our leaders, the legal system, the media, the military nor the police will save us. The only thing that will save us now is coordinated mass action. Now. Without it we will find ourselves in the same place where Auden’s poem ends: “Defenceless under the night / Our world in stupor lies; / Yet, dotted everywhere, / Ironic points of light / Flash out wherever the Just / Exchange their messages: / May I, composed like them / Of Eros and of dust, / Beleaguered by the same / Negation and despair, / Show an affirming flame.”
Ruth your comments on January 6th as symbolic of a counter-revolution updates more convincingly your ongoing arguments about the growing authoritarianism in the U.S. At the same time, I think there are a few issues to consider in light of this assertion. I make these comments in light of the need for connecting dots in ways that offer up a comprehensive understanding of politics. First, the counter-revolution began with Reagan with his view that government was the problem not the solution. This was a view that brought into high relief the scourge of neoliberalism and its attempt to dismantle the welfare state. Prior to Reagan, the ideological bedrocks of the counterrevolution took place in reaction to the sixties, labeled in the Powell Memo and Trilateral Commission as "an excess of democracy." With Trump we have a different element of the counter-revolution one that not only attacks the welfare state, but also incorporates a fascist politics rooted in a discourse of white supremacy and a politics of disposability. The latter does not abandon the elements of the Reagan counter-revolution but provides a rationale and diversion for the increasing failure of neoliberalism. Finally, your piece says nothing about the counter-revolution in identity, aggrieved agency, and manufactured ignorance rooted in the radical merging of culture, power, and technology. I know you have talked about ocular politics, but I think you give far too little attention to the subjective and cultural conditions that have ushered in an updated form of fascist politics. Some friendly thoughts.
I thoroughly enjoyed your piece this week Ruth! It succinctly summarizes the dire strait America's democracy is in. We are indeed under a full on assault by a right wing counter revolution of reaction! And have been since it began in 2015 with a flight down an escalator.
Shcumer and Pelsoi are doing what they can. But its going to take Biden in his executive office, Lloyd Austin in his Pentagon, Merrick Garland in his department of justice, Christopher Wray in his FBI and William Burns at the CIA to fight this right wing insurgency and beat back this attack on our country's democracy. We are in a slow moving coup. This is a state of emergency. The constitution that they have all sworn to up hold, protect and defend is at stake! At some point there will be more violence, rioting and chaos and our leaders will have to be the ones to invoke marshal law or a state of emergency in order to save democracy!
We are two days away from the anniversary of an event that a large number of Republican voters feel was somewhat, if not totally, justified. Some consider it just a minor speed bump.
Most Republicans love Trump and Trumpism. Added to this, you still have a huge swath of the America public that DOES NOT VOTE (80 million+).
Democracy in the USA is dying right in front of our eyes.
Ruth has been devoting a huge amount of her time and energy to spread this message.
Perhaps the mainstream media is finally waking up to the frightening possibility that democracy is truly in peril.
My thanks indeed for your exposition of the deplorable Trump political intentions. How vital it is to bring the full force of Legality on him and all those who supported this man. Democracy must be made very much stronger to control and discourage all those who appose it for their own ill gotten gains. There is no doubt that the very core of a certain part of humanity lives by the determination to appose law and order, and the belief that Democracy should be destroyed. The thinly disguised Putin and Trump political duo, with the meeting in Finland, was intended to have a very confidential discussion on their progress to date. The break up of the Trump attempts to continue in politics must be the absolute priority. He and his supporters especially The ProudT Boys must be subjected to the full force of the law. The Might of fundamental Rights is at stake.
This right-wing counterrevolution has been on the move for a long, long, time. This is from my deceased partner Professor Harvey Wheeler in his book "The Politics of Revolution" published in 1973, almost 50 years ago. "The trouble with revolutionary negation is that it is at a serious disadvantage in confronting counterrevolutionary negation. The counterrevolution knows what it wants; the revolution does not. Revolutionary negation now extends not only to the establishment but also to planning for what might supplant it. The DANGER is that the rebellion may grow and even become quite effective without producing positive supplementary and alternative institutions. Lacking a positive program, it promises to succeed only in bringing the wrath of the establishment down on it in a wave of repression and reaction. The most alarming prospect facing us is not revolutionary chaos but a new wave [like a Tsunami, my addition] of counterrevolutionary FASCISM."
Professor Wheeler was the Program Director at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions in Santa Barbara.
Thank you so much for all you do Ruth. I'm a man whose been under 'no' illusions for a very long time; a result I suppose I can attribute to a so far, long life of insatiable curiosity. I do hope that your readers fully understand the gravity and accept that this all was only very likely "Act 1" in the attempt to subvert our country and world. 'They' came so close they can nearly taste their victory and enough so to sustain their self righteous efforts, part of which includes re-energizing / riling their soldiers and making new converts. I would not wish to induce any panic though, just education, truth to values, hope for the very best, but do keep your powder dry. Be prepared to be resolved and resilient for the long haul. At some point realistically, academics may have to give way to actions - I hope not, but I do see focused, determined, organized and well funded forces opposed. Thanks for what you do so very well in factoring the issues and educating. May providence continue to grace you friend.
Your clarity is so very helpful. Thank you.
I've been moving around a lot lately and just catching up on some of your articles I put aside, Ruth. I had not previously read your prescient "forecast" article for CNN on Feb. 1, 2017, predicting a coup. You laid it all out right there - and here we are. My great fear is that we will have violence in the streets. I hate being in the middle of crowds...I was pregnant with my second daughter when I went to Midtown-Manhattan to see Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro and got caught with people pushing against me, I felt terrified. A woman I didn't know took my hand and led me out of the crowd and I never went to another crowded event.....until the Women's March in 2017...out of my comfort zone but absolutely engaged and energized. I would be willing to march again but not for the fear of violence. People are emboldened to carry weapons. I was listening earlier today to Gaslit Nation, catching up with that, also. They had a number of listeners on who are doing work all over the country to help save our democracy. Just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, fighting the tide of authoritarianism (and lunacy) that is smacking all of us in the face. In response to John Raymonda, no, I don't believe we will get through this crisis without shooting in the streets. At the end of the summer, I gave up all cable news. I couldn't stomach the ongoing stories about Trump. It seems the news organizations just couldn't help themselves. Last night my husband started shouting, "Ruth, Ruth is on!" We watched you on Ali Velshi. I'm glad you are on the news more frequently. I hope more people will listen and check out Lucid. I thank you for having this forum, for generously sharing your wisdom and insights, and for the Lucid community.
Thank you for making this available to the public.
Does anyone here believe we will get through this crisis without shooting the streets? If it does come to that, on which side will the Military fight?
PBS Frontline's updated 'American Insurrection' gives a birdseye view of events following Charlottesville leading to 1/6 & provides support for Ben-Ghiat's fears.
It is a call to action for every law abiding citizen to fight & vote against the forces of the misinformed and disturbed.
https://youtu.be/v22xC09WSVc
Another great insight.........
“Jan. 6,” together with the Comments, presents a rich overview of the causes of “America‘s path away from democracy.” RBG considers these causes in terms of a “Right-Wing Counterrevolution”: and of a “reaction” to “a crisis of White Christian male authority,” and a reaction against “the movement of history toward freedom for all.”
Henry Giroux cites neoliberalism as a cause, as does Steve Rasmussen, who also cites “collective psychosis.”Professor Giroux further cites the “ideological bedrocks of the counterrevolution” that “took place in reaction to the sixties.” (He also mentions “the radical merging of culture, power, and technology,“ and “subjective and cultural conditions,” though without elaborating.) Gary Kloner cites demagoguery, commercial and social media, and propaganda. Jamie cites the decay of the role of the arts. Ivan Priaulx cites (the inaction of) law-enforcement, unofficial militias, and Putin. hw cites “a weak opposition party and a compliant media ecosystem,” as well as the absence of a charismatic pro-democracy leader.
One might add some other factors to this list. One, there is the plutocracy. A tiny elite has an unprecedented amount of wealth and power. The ruling principle of elites in every society has always been, “Everything for us and nothing for anyone else.” The American and global plutocracy has been savagely and remorselessly implementing this principle with accelerating success since the Carter years. Therefore they have everything to lose. They are not about to defend democracy, because they never wanted it in the first place; if we lived in a democracy, they would be ordinary citizens, not plutocrats. Their ascendancy has been threatened since 2008, when the abominable nature of their reign finally became manifest to everyone—right, center, and left. Like the plutocrats of the first half of the 20th century, they view right-wing authoritarianism as a necessary defense against the revolt of the masses. As foolish as their counterparts in government, they assume they will not suffer under authoritarian rule. Under President Trump’s nascent autocracy in 2020, Jeff Bezos could have given every one of his nearly 1,000,000 employees a bonus of $100,000 and still had as much money as he had had 10 months earlier. In 2020 the wealth of the roughly 660 billionaires in America increased from 1 trillion to $1.5 trillion; and Putin wasn’t here to imprison any of them on bogus charges. From their perspective, they have everything to lose and nothing to gain under democracy.
Two, there is the permeation of international governments and economies by flagrant elite criminality. In the savings and loan financial scandal of the 1980s, hundreds of criminal executives went to prison. In the incomparably larger global financial collapse of 2008, exactly one executive went to prison. Instead, these criminals were appointed by Bush and Obama to head the recovery, assuming responsible for about $30 trillion of everybody else’s money, which they then used to handsomely reward themselves and consolidate their power. A Bloomberg News reporter wrote that instead of receiving invitations to head to recovery effort, they should’ve received subpoenas. They are still running the American economy. We are already living in a gangster state, like Russia and China. Does anyone think our plutocrats want to clean up the conditions that lead to authoritarianism? Lloyd Blankfein, former head of the criminal organization known as Goldman Sachs, said that if Sanders were nominated, he would vote for Trump. Sanders could comfortably fit into a center-right party in Western Europe, the kind of party that long ago helped implement the policies he advocates that are too radical for America.
Three, there is the fact that the rise of right-wing authoritarianism is global. No explanation of the rise of American authoritarianism can be adequate if it does not take into account what is happening in the rest of the world.
Five, there is the loss of American global preeminence, accompanied by endless military humiliation, both caused in large measure by imbecilic, sociopathic, and psychotic national leadership since the end of World War II. A good king is one who wins his wars (consider our reverence for Washington, Lincoln, and FDR). It is a great mistake to underestimate the consequences when any king loses his war, thereby inflicting perceived national humiliation on his people. Consider Nixon. The time when Biden‘s approval ratings collapsed was when the debacle in Kabul occurred last summer.
It will require decades of international scholarship in history and other disciplines to sort these causes out (including separating the primary from the secondary and from the incidental and contingent). (Even then there will inevitably be a great deal of disagreement.) WH Auden famously wrote, in “September 1, 1939”: “Accurate scholarship can / Unearth the whole offence / From Luther until now / That has driven a culture mad, / Find what occurred at Linz, / What huge imago made / A psychopathic god.” But suppose we could read the conclusions of future scholarship now. Would that really help us?
Every analysis I have read that seems credible ends in the same place: neither our government, our leaders, the legal system, the media, the military nor the police will save us. The only thing that will save us now is coordinated mass action. Now. Without it we will find ourselves in the same place where Auden’s poem ends: “Defenceless under the night / Our world in stupor lies; / Yet, dotted everywhere, / Ironic points of light / Flash out wherever the Just / Exchange their messages: / May I, composed like them / Of Eros and of dust, / Beleaguered by the same / Negation and despair, / Show an affirming flame.”
This article from Vox lays it all out… https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22814025/democracy-trump-january-6-capitol-riot-election-violence
Ruth, I hope this essay of yours makes it out to other outlets like CNN, MSNBC, the Atlantic or the Guardian etc.
Ruth your comments on January 6th as symbolic of a counter-revolution updates more convincingly your ongoing arguments about the growing authoritarianism in the U.S. At the same time, I think there are a few issues to consider in light of this assertion. I make these comments in light of the need for connecting dots in ways that offer up a comprehensive understanding of politics. First, the counter-revolution began with Reagan with his view that government was the problem not the solution. This was a view that brought into high relief the scourge of neoliberalism and its attempt to dismantle the welfare state. Prior to Reagan, the ideological bedrocks of the counterrevolution took place in reaction to the sixties, labeled in the Powell Memo and Trilateral Commission as "an excess of democracy." With Trump we have a different element of the counter-revolution one that not only attacks the welfare state, but also incorporates a fascist politics rooted in a discourse of white supremacy and a politics of disposability. The latter does not abandon the elements of the Reagan counter-revolution but provides a rationale and diversion for the increasing failure of neoliberalism. Finally, your piece says nothing about the counter-revolution in identity, aggrieved agency, and manufactured ignorance rooted in the radical merging of culture, power, and technology. I know you have talked about ocular politics, but I think you give far too little attention to the subjective and cultural conditions that have ushered in an updated form of fascist politics. Some friendly thoughts.
I don't know if subscribing and ❤ing your letters is enough to let you know how much I appreciate this work. But it's all I can do, so ❤❤❤❤
I thoroughly enjoyed your piece this week Ruth! It succinctly summarizes the dire strait America's democracy is in. We are indeed under a full on assault by a right wing counter revolution of reaction! And have been since it began in 2015 with a flight down an escalator.
Shcumer and Pelsoi are doing what they can. But its going to take Biden in his executive office, Lloyd Austin in his Pentagon, Merrick Garland in his department of justice, Christopher Wray in his FBI and William Burns at the CIA to fight this right wing insurgency and beat back this attack on our country's democracy. We are in a slow moving coup. This is a state of emergency. The constitution that they have all sworn to up hold, protect and defend is at stake! At some point there will be more violence, rioting and chaos and our leaders will have to be the ones to invoke marshal law or a state of emergency in order to save democracy!
We are two days away from the anniversary of an event that a large number of Republican voters feel was somewhat, if not totally, justified. Some consider it just a minor speed bump.
Most Republicans love Trump and Trumpism. Added to this, you still have a huge swath of the America public that DOES NOT VOTE (80 million+).
Democracy in the USA is dying right in front of our eyes.
Ruth has been devoting a huge amount of her time and energy to spread this message.
Perhaps the mainstream media is finally waking up to the frightening possibility that democracy is truly in peril.
This past weekend, The Globe and Mail (Canada’s premier national newspaper) devoted at least 6 pages to “The Great American Divide.” This piece is written from the viewpoint of a Canadian: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-american-polity-is-cracked-and-might-collapse-canada-must-prepare/
My thanks indeed for your exposition of the deplorable Trump political intentions. How vital it is to bring the full force of Legality on him and all those who supported this man. Democracy must be made very much stronger to control and discourage all those who appose it for their own ill gotten gains. There is no doubt that the very core of a certain part of humanity lives by the determination to appose law and order, and the belief that Democracy should be destroyed. The thinly disguised Putin and Trump political duo, with the meeting in Finland, was intended to have a very confidential discussion on their progress to date. The break up of the Trump attempts to continue in politics must be the absolute priority. He and his supporters especially The ProudT Boys must be subjected to the full force of the law. The Might of fundamental Rights is at stake.