What makes mainstream German society tick? The Friedrich Ebert Foundation regularly takes a closer look at this question with its long-term study. Its latest findings have raised alarm.
Technology doesn’t bring disconnect. I’d argue liberalism does, and individualism.
Liberlism glorifies individualism: it is the individual who shall be responsible for itself, for its successes and failures. This makes people center on themselves.
But humans are social creatures, so when society tells you that can only rely on yourself, you simply ignore society and focus on your relatives, your family, and maybe your extended social group, which is far, far smaller than the whole society.
Liberalism is basically a doctrine that tells people that the state will abandon them and they shouldn’t rely on it. People will mechanically fall back on a fascist regime that tells them that they will be taken care of and granted the privileges they deserve.
Ergo, liberalism builds fascism.
Another way I see this is that fascism is the fail state of societies. A society always fall back to some sort of fascism. And there liberalism comes to tell you that the state, the organisation that structure the society, should disappear or do nothing.
The solution is dirty easy: the government needs to be a government and do something for the people. Fund the schools, the hospitals, public transports. Take the money where it is. Forbid the financiarisation of the housing market, so house can house people instead of being another kind of gold. Ensure people have enough money to eat and shelter. And there you go. People don’t need fascism when they’re being taken care of.
But the only things liberals do is pretending that there is no money for this shit. Of course, they’re hard at work so the state can get the least money possible.
Technology, such as social media and the platforms that easily provides instant access to them to large masses of people absolutely enables disconnect that is agnostic to liberalism, conservatism, etc. It had been in my observation that we are more disconnected to one another because “technology” has enabled individuals who are not of the “status quo” to find each other and empowers them for either good or for bad. We have all seen countless encounters with friends, families and strangers who rather duck into their smart phones than engage in a conversation.
To say liberalism causes fascism by way of individualism is like saying when you eat McDonald’s you’re going to get fat. You’re not totally wrong but there’s a little more to it than that.
Masha Gessen has great insights on fascism and has stated in the past that fascism is fueled by disenfranchised individuals looking for easy/simplistic answers. This why I believe Trump is so widely popular and accepted.
Masha has lived under fascism (USSR) so I tend to feel they have a strong qualified opinion on the subject. Those who truly understands society and what underpins it knows that it is very nuanced and generalizations simply aren’t enough to frame it let alone “fascism”.
I know this thesis of simplisme, but I don’t buy it. Or rather, there’s nothing around it. People are xenophobe or racist since the dawn of humanity. As you put it, the problem is disenfranchised people, but the solution is how to avoid to disenfranchised them.
Fascist leaders naturally arise when people are looking for solutions to their basic problems. These basic problems are housing, food, security, health,…
In some way we are indeed fighting some instinct of racism, an instinct that has us focus on a smaller group of people we care or understand. The bigger the problems, the smaller the group we focus on.
As for the technology, I firmly disagree still. The disconnect to me would be from the bullshit jobs (a lot of work doesn’t serve society but the holy growth). That is one disconnect. The feeling that the rich have the society work for them and the people have to work for that and then find what they need to live is another disconnect. The intensity of work that prevent socialisation in the name of productivity is a disconnect. The lies and advertising for things you don’t care much. The philosophy that every activity must cost something.
As for technology, people are saying what you’re saying at least since we invented books. Don quichotte is exactly about this.
Technology doesn’t bring disconnect. I’d argue liberalism does, and individualism.
Liberlism glorifies individualism: it is the individual who shall be responsible for itself, for its successes and failures. This makes people center on themselves.
But humans are social creatures, so when society tells you that can only rely on yourself, you simply ignore society and focus on your relatives, your family, and maybe your extended social group, which is far, far smaller than the whole society.
Liberalism is basically a doctrine that tells people that the state will abandon them and they shouldn’t rely on it. People will mechanically fall back on a fascist regime that tells them that they will be taken care of and granted the privileges they deserve.
Ergo, liberalism builds fascism.
Another way I see this is that fascism is the fail state of societies. A society always fall back to some sort of fascism. And there liberalism comes to tell you that the state, the organisation that structure the society, should disappear or do nothing.
The solution is dirty easy: the government needs to be a government and do something for the people. Fund the schools, the hospitals, public transports. Take the money where it is. Forbid the financiarisation of the housing market, so house can house people instead of being another kind of gold. Ensure people have enough money to eat and shelter. And there you go. People don’t need fascism when they’re being taken care of.
But the only things liberals do is pretending that there is no money for this shit. Of course, they’re hard at work so the state can get the least money possible.
Technology, such as social media and the platforms that easily provides instant access to them to large masses of people absolutely enables disconnect that is agnostic to liberalism, conservatism, etc. It had been in my observation that we are more disconnected to one another because “technology” has enabled individuals who are not of the “status quo” to find each other and empowers them for either good or for bad. We have all seen countless encounters with friends, families and strangers who rather duck into their smart phones than engage in a conversation.
To say liberalism causes fascism by way of individualism is like saying when you eat McDonald’s you’re going to get fat. You’re not totally wrong but there’s a little more to it than that.
Masha Gessen has great insights on fascism and has stated in the past that fascism is fueled by disenfranchised individuals looking for easy/simplistic answers. This why I believe Trump is so widely popular and accepted.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-fascist-performance
Masha has lived under fascism (USSR) so I tend to feel they have a strong qualified opinion on the subject. Those who truly understands society and what underpins it knows that it is very nuanced and generalizations simply aren’t enough to frame it let alone “fascism”.
I know this thesis of simplisme, but I don’t buy it. Or rather, there’s nothing around it. People are xenophobe or racist since the dawn of humanity. As you put it, the problem is disenfranchised people, but the solution is how to avoid to disenfranchised them.
Fascist leaders naturally arise when people are looking for solutions to their basic problems. These basic problems are housing, food, security, health,…
In some way we are indeed fighting some instinct of racism, an instinct that has us focus on a smaller group of people we care or understand. The bigger the problems, the smaller the group we focus on.
As for the technology, I firmly disagree still. The disconnect to me would be from the bullshit jobs (a lot of work doesn’t serve society but the holy growth). That is one disconnect. The feeling that the rich have the society work for them and the people have to work for that and then find what they need to live is another disconnect. The intensity of work that prevent socialisation in the name of productivity is a disconnect. The lies and advertising for things you don’t care much. The philosophy that every activity must cost something.
As for technology, people are saying what you’re saying at least since we invented books. Don quichotte is exactly about this.
deleted by creator