Trumpism: An Anarchist View
Donald Trump is a fascinating, if frightening, political phenomena. His two terms in office have so far been mired by controversy, with most of this controversy spearheaded by Trump himself. He is the only convicted felon to hold the highest post in the United States and if it weren’t for a supreme court which he stacked, he would likely be facing even further legal issues. Despite this he has a dedicated base who view him as the answer to the problems of American society.
His supporters view him this way because they have joined a global chorus of conservatives who see liberal democracy as allowing for the subordination of their nations to cosmopolitan and progressive forces hostile to the traditions that constitute their very essence. These conservatives maintain a restrictive concept of such traditions which allows for very little multiculturalism, if any, prescribes strict adherence to gender roles, is intolerant of any critique of the historical and cultural legacy of its nation, and scorns any attempt to design social institutions in a way that gives a leg up to minority groups. This type of conservatism sees liberal democracy as seen in the United States and much of Europe as a trojan horse for progressive elites and enemy cultures to shape the nation in their interests and away from that of the traditional and rightful common member of the national community. Thus it is the job of the conservative politician, or political party to manipulate democratic institutions so as to purge the democratic state of affirmative action policies, civil rights protections, and the separation of powers. This process of purging the democratic nation-state of liberal institutions and policies is directed at transforming the nation-state into an illiberal democracy, like Russia, or Hungary, where despite the existence of elected representatives and elections for the head of state, there is no substantive separation of powers, or civil rights.
Trump, MAGA, and the GOP are thus the American incarnation of populist illiberal conservatism. In Europe this ideological force takes the form of the so-called “far-right” populated by parties and politicians such as the Alternative For Deutschland, Geert Wilders, Jean Marie and Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni, Fidesz, Law and Justice, and Georgian Dream. Many liberal and leftist commentators have a hard time separating this new breed of conservatism from fascism. Since they are both far-right ideologies there are non-trivial similarities between them. They are both populist in wanting to advance the interests of the morally upright common man against the corrupt elite.
They are both ultranationalist in conceptualizing the national community as an exclusive ethnic and/or cultural grouping as opposed to legally defined citizens. They are both inherently racist despite however their adherents might distance themselves from historical racist atrocities and ways of thinking. However, conservatism is fundamentally at odds with fascism, especially a conservatism tied to the democratic state. Fascism calls for nationalist revolution against the existing order including its traditional culture and democratic state.
Trump is not a threat to the democratic state as such, but the liberal democratic state. Liberal elites are currently scrambling to stem the illiberal tide. Given that this new breed of conservatism tends to elevate incompetent ideologues over experienced officials, exacerbates the inequalities that drive its animus against elites, lacks political imagination, and exhausts electorates with divisiveness it’s hard to imagine that it will achieve geocultural dominance. However, illiberalism seems to be a feature of global politics that is here to stay, with liberal democracy on the global decline.
For Anarchists, liberal democracy is its own grave digger. Liberal democracy is only capable of making concessions to oppressed people while leaving intact and politically reproducing relations of domination such as class divisions, racism, patriarchy, and queerphobia, such that when the geocultural tide shifts the right way, illiberal forces could weaponize the coercive power of the state to dismantle liberal concessions such as civil rights and checks on autocracy. Some might look for a left-wing populism to challenge the populist far-right. But Anarchists know that this is a non-starter.
Anarchists know that capitalist society has divided humanity into capitalist and working classes. To divide it along moral lines between the corrupt elite, and the upright common man is to shroud the modern condition in a moralistic veil that ignores how the moral conventions of both masses and elites are shaped by the relevant class interests. Further, casting the masses as a morally homogenous group can only lead to otherization and discrimination. Anarchists also know why illiberal populist conservatism will never satisfy the ultimate interests of its base. Even if white westerners with cisheterosexist and xenophobic values can momentarily entrench their relative privilege via illiberalism, they still share the same basic interests with the human beings they are persecuting.
They are human beings who require self-determination to survive and thrive. The more systems of oppression they construct that put them at odds with the rest of humanity the more they will deny themselves the ability to collaboratively and freely solve human problems. Thus for Anarchists the struggle for total liberation trends against populism, conservatism, liberalism, and all existing conditions. We know that the only salvation for the human species is a classless society of free association. Further, no politician, billionaire, autocrat, or political party can abolish the human struggle for freedom. Freedom is a force which works behind the backs of all its enemies.
Sources
Why federal courts are unlikely to save democracy from Trump’s and Musk’s attacks
Cas Mudde - Populism in the Twenty-First Century: An Illiberal Democratic Response to Undemocratic Liberalism | The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy
Populism can degrade democracy but is on the rise − here’s what causes this political movement and how it can be weakened
Illiberal Democracy and the Struggle on the Right | Journal of Democracy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVnNvKpIIa4&pp=ygUNcm9nZXIgZ3JpZmZpbg%3D%3D
The Basics of Anarcho-Syndicalism
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Likeness | by Post-Comprehension | Medium
