Making A Deeper Appeal
The following lines are taken from a Situationist website, a brief comment written in the aftermath of the Trump election. I offer these words for the truth they convey, not as an endorsement of the Situationist Revolutionary philosophy. The Situationist International was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists, prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution in 1972
Powerful though they may be, irrational popular tendencies are not irresistible forces. They contain their own contradictions. Clinging to some absolute authority is not necessarily a sign of faith in authority; it may be a desperate attempt to overcome one’s increasing doubts (the convulsive tightening of a slipping grip). People who join gangs or reactionary groups, or who get caught up in religious cults or patriotic hysteria, are also seeking a sense of liberation, connection, purpose, participation, empowerment. As Wilhelm Reich showed, fascism gives a particularly vigorous and dramatic expression to these basic aspirations, which is why it often has a deeper appeal than the vacillations, compromises and hypocrisies of liberalism and leftism. In the long run the only way to defeat reaction is to present more forthright expressions of these aspirations, and more authentic opportunities to fulfill them. When basic issues are forced into the open, irrationalities that flourished under the cover of psychological repression tend to be weakened, like disease germs exposed to sunlight and fresh air.
As for myself, my thoughts are captured essentially by the lyric of the great anthem by Styx, Show Me The Way. I think that the odds are long that we will step back from this precipice. This crazy train that we are all riding left years ago. The “might makes right” point of view embodied by the present administration has been lionized by a number of published and feted corporate CEOs for years. Profit Uber Alles. What this means for the institutions of democracy, and for civil society is now becoming apparent. Prayer and action are called for. Why don’t I shut up and play the song?
