Field Notes: Long Time Coming
Editor’s note: Field Notes is a weekly roundup of social media writing by Nina Illingworth. Bringing you highlights and links to blogs, journals, and ideas from Nina’s work across the internet. This collection features posts from September 13th, to October 15th, 2022.
Field Notes: Long Time Coming
Hello folks; it’s been a hot half minute, hasn’t it? I’ve spent a lot of time talking about where I’ve been recently on social media, so let’s just keep it short here. My life fell apart, and now it’s better; I’ve been back producing easily digestible content on my blogs and Facebook for just over a month now. Things are going well, but it is taking me time to ramp back up my full production schedule, and I’m still not at the point where I can produce a couple thousand words of social media content each weekday, and essays here on NIDC.
As you might remember from just before I left, this is not a new problem for me. This time however, I’ve decided to swallow my pride and enlist some help. After this first “catch up” edition of Field Notes, I’ll be handing the production of this quasi-newsletter over to the NIDC systems administrator; they can handle their own introduction when that occurs. Additionally, this person consumes more vlogs and podcasts than anyone else I know, so perhaps we can goad them into sharing embeds or links to some of their favorites. Assuming I’m well and producing content, there should be a new Field Notes each week here on NIDC.
In terms of format, I’ve asked the curator of this column to keep it to three full posts in the highlights, and then include every relevant piece of content from my Facebook, Instagram, Blogger, and Tumblr accounts; obviously, today’s post is going to be a bit puffier than that however. If you want Twitter threads and stolen pinko memes from Facebook, you’ll need to follow the relevant accounts to get those. Can’t see a post behind a link? Just right click on it and open the link in an incognito window.
Alrighty then, let’s play some catch up.
Highlights
Charles Koch is Also a Fascist
Tragically, one of the side effects of Pig Empire historians relying on “the Great Man theory” and a sort of national mass hypnosis to explain the rise of fascism in “the age of ideologies” is that fascism is understood by most, particularly in America, as a cartoonish sort of religion or cult. This can be useful for identifying your average neo-nazi skinhead, but it actively distorts the public’s understanding of a what a broader fascist movement taking control of a liberal democratic society actually looks like. When presented with politicians, or the billionaires who fund their campaigns, many people simply reject the idea that these folks are fascists because they’re not necessarily raging ideologues with funny moustaches and a military uniform fetish.
The truth however is that every fascist movement in history has contained numerous respected professionals, popular entertainers, war heroes, honored political figures, and of course capitalist financiers. What was true for Nazi Germany, is no less true of the Pork Reich brand of fascism being pushed in the Pig Empire today. The fact that “dark” MAGA, Q-Anon, and fascist street gangs can draw on support from a diverse network of celebrities, politicians, reactionary judges and yes, billionaire weirdos who believe we can beat the climate crisis by running to Mars, simply makes those folks fascists too – it doesn’t make this movement somehow less fascist.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the establishment forces lining up being this fascist movement are not white supremacists, raging transphobes, or malevolent authoritarians; just that there are other reasons for supporting fascism besides cult-like ideological belief, including raw self interest. Does 86 year old anarcho-capitalist billionaire Charles Koch really believe Marxist eco-terrorists are trying to destroy America and critical race theory is a threat to our society? I doubt it; but since he owns a bunch of oil companies and invests in the school voucher movement, he’s happy to fund those that do believe this crap for his own enrichment.
This alliance works because in the end, fascism isn’t as much about ideology, as it is about power.
The War on Sharing: Understanding the Evolution of Ecofascism
Let me ask you a simple question; when I say the word “ecofascist” to you, what do you picture in your mind’s eye? If you’re anything like most people, there’s a pretty good chance you’re picturing a white supremacist in Norse religious cosplay, or a racist chud co-opting the struggle against climate catastrophe to justify eliminationist politics.
Given the current state of journalism in our neofeudalist hellworld, this is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, I would argue that surface-level definitions like this can be quite helpful if used to spawn a larger conversation about what ecofascism really means, and how it is changing our society. By that same measure however, these extremely narrow signifiers can serve to limit our understanding of ecofascism, and the present ecofascist moment if used improperly. After all, is ecofascism not a form of fascism? Since when are broke rednecks capable of imposing a fascist order, no matter how many guns they own?
In fact I believe such a limited and plainly immaterial definition of ecofascism is quite dangerous if it represents the end of your intellectual journey. Frankly, these surface-level definitions of ecofascism fall into the common liberal trapping of mistaking fascist foot soldiers, for the fascist movement; much in the same way mainstream commentators in the media would greatly prefer to define fascism as brownshirt Proud Boys, and not as dozens and dozens of fascist politicians who voted to overturn an election and the billionaire nazis who own them body, mind, and soul.
So how do we find a better understanding of what ecofascism really is? By examining the material realities around us and the presumed intentions of powerful actors in our society. For example, we know now that it’s capitalism or the planet; both cannot survive. We know that the billionaire class has no intention of giving up capitalism. We can reasonably infer that the billionaire-funded rise of eliminationist politics and fascist movements is not wholly unrelated to the socialism or barbarism moment we’re now facing. Finally, we know that the in-pocket politicians who serve the rich in our society, are already making climate promises that can only lead to ever-widening acts of genocide. Does that sound like it adds up to nothing more than “nazis who’re also fake environmentalists” to you?
No ecofascism isn’t about neo-nazis who love pagan jewelry and camping. And it isn’t really about racist mass shooters leaving wall of spaghetti manifestos behind to justify their murderous actions either. Ultimately, ecofascism is the decision to continue the capitalist way of life for some, at the expense of others, no matter how many lives that costs, and even if that strategy is ultimately unsustainable. Like all fascists movements, it has been nurtured and propagated by a wealthy ruling class, for their own benefit and at the expense of everyone else; starting with brown people, foreigners, trans folks, the poor and otherwise marginalized in our society, and working on upward until there is nothing left to consume.
After all, that’s the problem with all fascist movements – in the final analysis, they’re just death cults that serve the wealthy and powerful till the bitter end; and ecofascism is really no different.
Fascist Billionaires Dismantling Democracy
I must confess that watching people around me react with shock as the entire Pig Empire begins electing (or almost electing) open fascists, has in turn left me a little dismayed. After having spend much of the past seven years explaining how our society was on precisely this forward path, it’s objectively jarring to hear folks ask “what is going on?”
Despite this, I am a writer for the people, so please allow me to present to you the grand unifying theory of “what is going on” in the Pig Empire right now, in less than three hundred words:
The Earth is literally dying, and fossil fuel capitalism is the murderer. As a society we are now being presented with a clear choice; continuing the rule of capital (and capitalists) or ending this nightmare in time to save a planet habitable by billions of regular people. We are quite literally at the end of the ecological line, and the final decision – will it be socialism, or ecofascist barbarism? Unfortunately, but not coincidentally, this is happening at the precise time that liberal democratic societies have handed all of the political power, and most of the ability to influence ideas, to the ruling reactionary billionaire class.
Faced with what is unquestionably an existential threat to the very existence of capitalism, the rich guys have clearly decided to throw their lot in with fascism; and the propagandists and politicians they buy have come along with them. Why fascism? Because if your plan is to march seven or so billion “useless eaters” off the ecological cliff like lemmings, it’s probably a bad idea to let them even pretend to vote on the concept. They might not agree.
All of which only leaves the question of “why is it working?” And the answer to that is two fold; for starters, it’s much easier to co-opt a fake liberal democracy where all the decision making power resides with the wealthy anyway. Secondly, this is a reactionary capitalist society built on slavery, genocide, and several hundred years of justifications for such – regular people in the Pig Empire, are already primed to believe fascist nonsense.
Nina Bytes: Any Fool Will Do
Understanding “longtermism”: Why this suddenly influential philosophy is so toxic
In a number of recent posts, I’ve found myself talking about billionaires, ideology, and the mainstream rise of overt fascism in the Pig Empire. Today in Nina-Bytes then, I’d like to take a moment to look at this critically important August 2022 essay on Salon about the latest nightmare ideological fad for billionaire fascists and disillusioned neoliberals; longtermism. Just what is longtermism? Let’s ask philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres, the author of this article:
At first glance, it may not be entirely clear to the casual observer why longtermism is in fact such a dangerous, and reactionary ideology. That is of course until you start asking who exactly these folks mean by “we” and what they’re implying when they say “whatever it takes.” Hint: we is more or less rich and powerful people, while whatever it takes pretty much consists of sacrificing the poor, and quite possibly the planet. After all, even billions of poor people probably aren’t going to build super intelligent artificial minds that will “evolve” the human species and take “us” to Mars, or something.
In case my sarcasm doesn’t make it clear, the plain truth is that I don’t believe what so-called longtermists claim to believe matters at all. Rather, I think what matters is that longtermism is another ruling class word salad ideology designed to justify mass murder in order to maintain capitalism in the face of a dying planet; like neoliberalism before it, or eco-fascism today. Marketing murder for profit as an ideology takes all kinds of sales pitches, for all sorts of people, and ruling class billionaire freaks are no different.
At its root this longtermism is merely a mash up of fascism, futurism, and a little bit of neoliberalism for flavoring; and all three of those reactionary headcages have at least one key commonality – the idea that some deserve to live and rule, while some deserve to serve and die. Of course, adherents and acolytes will howl that the difference lies in how those decisions are made and who ends up in what bucket, but I think you’ll find that whether the culling is based on racial animus, economic class, or a fake meritocracy, the end result of who lives in luxury, and who dies in bondage, doesn’t really change much.
In other words the rise of ruling-class interest in both longtermism, and fascism in the Pig Empire, are intertwined phenomenon. They represent some, but not all, of the capitalist class’s response to the objective reality that climate catastrophe cannot be stopped without ending capitalism. The capitalists, who possess outsized power in our society, have made their choice already, and now they’re casting about for justifications and mechanisms to ensure billionaire reactionaries, not liberal democracies full of people, survive the coming apocalypse.
So what is longtermism? Another excuse to genocide poor people for the benefit of the wealthy and powerful. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what greedbag monsters and fascists killers tell themselves to fall asleep at night. What matters is that we stop them before they kill billions.
About a War
I thought about heading off today’s posts with a “three Spidermans pointing” at white supremacists meme featuring the American, Ukrainian, and Russian flags, but given the current political climate in the Pig Empire I more or less assume that would get me banned. Which would suck, because as I’m going to go over here once again, I don’t have the same kind of passionate feelings about this issue as the folks do around me; it’d stink pretty bad to get banned because I’m tired of other people trying to draw me into a conversation I don’t want to have.
Back before my last break, I wrote a little bit about my positions on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why I wasn’t going to devote much ink to analyzing it; which is after all the only honorable thing to do when you boldly tell people “I don’t think Russia is going to invade” two days before they invade. I wouldn’t listen to me after that about this subject, why should you? But there were other, more clearly ideological and class based reasons as well. I figured that would be the end of this discussion, but obviously my comments section is occasionally proving otherwise.
So today I’m going to sum up, hopefully for the last time, some of my basic positions on this war and then ideally you’ll understand why I’m not really looking to debate this out in the comment section.
I am an anti-war anarcho syndicalist. In this context that means that I’m against wars, against capitalism, against nazis of all stripes and on all sides, against capitalist controlled governments, against extractivism murdering the earth, and explicitly and specifically for the underclasses all over the planet – be they labor, or folks so marginalized they are denied even the right to be exploited for meagre pay. I am not big on wars, I don’t believe in defensive invasions, I don’t want anyone to get the natural gas we should be leaving in the ground, and I don’t root for fascists (be they Wagner or Azov) and flags during a fossil fuel war killing poor people and literal conscripts. I am for the people, and against “the man.”
When this all started I warned folks that no matter what “side” you ended up “supporting” in this mess you were going to end up shuffling for nazis and capitalists, while making apologia for war crimes. Six months on how’d you say my prediction is turning out?
And the worst part is that many (but not all) people around me have debased themselves like this for vibes. My “support” is irrelevant; and so is yours. None of it has any material bearing whatsoever on a billionaire fascist’s fossil fuel war against a Pig Empire client state just waiting to be carved up by Western European bankers. Even setting aside the fact that I’m TRANS and I dunno how you could expect me to support anyone who either works with neo-nazi military brigades or says they’re invading a whole country to keep transgender people out of beautiful Russia; I’m not seeing a “side” here for me – an anarcho-syndicalist that hates rich people and nationalism.
I don’t want to argue with anyone about it. I don’t want to have a debate. What I want is for the war to end; the easiest way for that to happen is for Russia to go home. I’m not a pacifist, I get why Ukrainians are fighting back; it’s not about moral equivalence it’s about the fact that I don’t care who gets the gas and poor folks don’t win wars. As in every war, poor and innocent people suffer, while the rich profit.
Nobody cares about any of that anymore however; the empire boners are out in full force now, so I’m not out here pushing that opinion on you day after day. Folks, even folks who claim to be anti-war but still have strong opinions about this, have made their choices; they can live with them. I’m trying to beat a neofeudalist nightmare ruling class pushing a fascist takeover and climate-based genocide all over the Pig Empire; I think people can live without my participation in endless conversations about a war that shouldn’t be happening, over a ticking time bomb we should leave in the ground.
There’s a million places for folks to talk about this, could we just not do it all over the comments section beneath my work that has absolutely nothing to do with this rotten war? Here on Facebook, Twitter, etc? Thanks.
Feel free to file me as naïve; I just kinda believed that stuff I said about being for poor people – who have never won a rich man’s war in history.
Nina-Bytes: Crash Courses in Modern Fascism
Fascists Are Benefiting From World Crisis
Recently on Instagram, I mentioned my belief that a review of basic concepts and ideas presented in my anti-fascist writing might be in order. I’ve been away for a while, and it’s easy to lose track of the bigger picture when an entire political and media class has got you chasing sensationalism while the fascist creep accelerates forward at an alarming pace. In that vein, I’d like to highlight this October 9th, 2022 interview University of Michigan professor Geoff Eley, conducted by Arjun Chaturvedi over at Jacobin.
Unsurprisingly given the title of this article, Eley’s field of expertise in history includes fascist movements. Although our interviewer does manage to rope him into one question about the historical study of fascism, Eley’s answers in this piece are otherwise hyper focused on providing a practical understanding of modern fascism. For example, when discussion portability of fascist politics, the professor offers up this explanation of the conditions required to enable this kind of political movement to thrive:
Along the way, Eley also talks about the three things all fascist movements have in common (rejection of liberal democracy, preference for authoritarianism, desire to violently disenfranchise an other they define,) and how society can fight fascism; with broad coalition building and a popular front approach. If you don’t have time to read dozens of, or even just a whole book about fascism, this is more or less an excellent little primer; with one big caveat.
That caveat is that by way of injecting the talking point into a question about Narendra Modi, our interviewer pushes the idea that Donald Trump isn’t a fascist, because he “lacks a coherent ideology that is a crucial aspect of fascism.” This argument has been an asinine hobby horse for Jacobin magazine ever since noted reactionary trashfire and friend to fascists Ben Burgis published an article telling folks to “relax, it’s not fascism” days after the January 6th MAGA coup attempt; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now. For starters, Trump is definitely a fascist; secondly, if being a fascist requires understanding ideology, then illiterate Nazi murderers who did pogroms in World War II weren’t fascists either – absurd.
Furthermore, you can tell Eley doesn’t like this nonsense either, because he spends a paragraph trying to form a convoluted definition of ideology that allows both him and the interview to be correct; before specifically referencing the rise of Trump in his conclusions about what type of political environment allows fascist movements to succeed. Despite this bad noise, the interview is a worthwhile read; even if I’m giving Jacobin and its interviewer zero stars and a failing grade on anti-fascism as a whole.
The Roundup
Despite my slow content production ramp up, this section is going to be a little long and extremely ugly; forgive me in advance my friends. This is just going to be a big ole mess of hyperlinks because I’ve got to cover four weeks worth of sporadic posting. Below you’ll find links to journals, blogs, the periodic rant, and the vast majority of other quality content I publish on social media – in no particular order whatsoever I’m afraid.
“Skull Mask E-Girls” and Fascist Micro-community Targeting
Fascism is a Legalist Doctrine
The War on Sharing: When Everything Falls Apart
Nina Bytes: Fascism is on the Docket
Elon Musk Buying Twitter is a Win for Fascism
Recommended Reading: Van Zandt Dishes Truth
Accelerationism is Fascism With an Extra Step
The Red-Brown Alliance is a Fascist Grift
Video Recommendation: Some Protest and Civility Theory
There Is Still Power In a Union
Get Comfortable With Sweeping Reform
You Can’t Wish Fascism Away
Declaring Covid Over Prematurely Is Eugenics
That Time Ebay Execs Did a Corporate Psy-Op
Video Recommendation: Fascist Martha’s Vineyard Stunt
Mainstream Fascists Are The Greater Evil
The Joker Gets Away Again; In Flint
Recommended Reading: Inflation Discourse Is a Capitalist Lie
Social Media Isn’t What They Told You It Is
Driverless Is a Dud but Capitalists Don’t Care
What to Do About Musk Twitter: Discord Decamp
Recommended Reading: The Bottom Line
Journal: A Classical American Public-Private Partnership
Podcast Pick: Trust and Experts
Capitalists Do Fascism Because They’re Greedy
Instagram Programming Note: AI Art Now Because Algo
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An Itty Bitty Picture Show
Well my friends; we’re almost at the end and hopefully, nobody died. To get us off on the right foot going forward, I thought I’d share my video pick of the week and keep this space warm for my successor here on Field Notes. Today’s video comes to us from Tom Nicholas and his popular YouTube Series “What the Theory.”
In this short but informative spot, Tom examines Gramsci’s groundbreaking idea of “cultural hegemony” – the ability for the capitalist ruling class to control the people, by controlling not just what they think about, but also how they think about it, through cultural domination. Ever wonder why some of the folks most thoroughly screwed by capitalism, are its most ardent supporters in our society? Tom’s blisteringly quick video can help you find the answer; in between bites of a tuna melt, if that’s your pleasure.
As always, all writings featured in Highlights and The Roundup sections were written by me. And our Picture Show selection is my weekly pick; which means the content shared there is the product and property of the listed creator, or creators.
Thanks for sticking with me through thick, thin, and the longest aggregation post in human history. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose baby; I’m headed back to the lab.
- nina illingworth
Anarcho-syndicalist writer, critic and analyst.
You can find my work at ninaillingworth.com, Can’t You Read, Media Madness and my Patreon Blog
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“It’s ok Willie; swing heil, swing heil…”
