Frédéric Neyrat via nettime-l on Mon, 18 Dec 2023 08:11:34 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> the silence on the rising fascism / non-violence


Hi Brian,

Reading your post, I stopped on the adjective "civil" in the expression
"civil society", which you contrast with "naked barbarism", the one, we can
say, of atmospheric capitalo-fascism.

Indeed, which civility should "speak"? Maybe the one of a planetary
ceasefire, rethinking non-violence at its roots (MLK, Gandhi, J. Butler's
latest book, "The Force of non-violence," see also the 7th chapter of
Robinson's Black Marxism). We're working on this with some friends:
https://www.trans-planet.org/ (texts in French and English:
https://www.trans-planet.org/abolishing-the-world-order-in-a-radical-ceasefire)
Anyone who wants to take part / contribute is welcome!

Sincerely,

Frédéric


Re: the silence on the rising fascism
by Brian Holmes via nettime-l

Obviously I agree with Pod. There's a gigantic lurch to the right. I
recommend the second part of that Forensic architecture interview:

https://granta.com/once-again-germany-defines-who-is-a-jew-part-ii

Similar to Germany, the center left and right have come together in the US
to seal off any public discussion about the war, despite polls showing that
a majority is against sending arms to massacre Palestinians. Meanwhile the
big discussion in the press is literally about dictatorship, how much
dictatorship would be possible under a second Trump presidency. It's eerie,
because at the same time you have Milei assuming power in Argentina and
devaluing the peso by 51% on the first day, with his security minister
saying that previously existing restraints will be abandoned, police on the
street will carry live rounds and protests will be confined to the
sidewalk. That's a recipe for a social explosion on a very short timeline.
In short this is the heaviest atmosphere I ever lived through in the
Americas.

It seems that climate change, the Russo-Chinese challenge to US hegemony,
and at the same time, boundary-busting technological innovations and
twisted perspectives of yet another capitalist growth binge have all opened
up a nihilistic sense of the need for states and elites to make a move. The
geopolitical crisis and paradigm shift that Armin Medosch and I were so
keen to analyze a decade ago is happening now. It's already on a huge scale
and it could get bigger. At the same time I think civil society has only
begun to speak, and there is an incredible amount to be said. The Empire
itself is naked barbarism. What are we gonna do?

yours for a viable tomorrow, BH
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