The Devil Told Us His Name

Michael Petrucelli

Mar 18, 20204 min read

“Faust: What is your name?

Mephistopheles: The question seems but cheap

From one who for the Word has such contempt,

Who from all outward show is quite exempt

And only into beings would delve deep.”

-Goethe, “Faust” (Priest Translation)

Unlike the tragedy of the good doctor Faust, our enemies are not secretive, they may at times speak in coded language, or try to misinform, but they rarely need to lie. You see, when the working class says to the ruling class, “What is your name?” We always receive the same answer, “The 1920s were the last decade in American history during which one could be genuinely optimistic about politics. Since 1920, the vast increase in welfare beneficiaries and the extension of the franchise to women — two constituencies that are notoriously tough for libertarians — have rendered the notion of “capitalist democracy” into an oxymoron.”¹ Or, perhaps, we should draw this out further and examine the words of his friend, self described “capitalist and monarchist” Curtis Yarvin (previously publishing under the name Moldbug), when he said, “Our problem is democracy. Democracy is a dangerous, malignant form of government which tends to degenerate, sometimes slowly and sometimes with shocking, gut-wrenching speed, into tyranny and chaos.”²

The neo-fascist drek that finds its way into the existence of the world is of course, by no means limited to the Trump administration, but our enemies have made their intention clear. In the time of Corona Virus, a serious illness, which requires serious response, the state has decided to use “social distancing”. The reality, unfortunately, is that this model will require 18-24 months minimum to have the kind of effect rate that they are pretending it will. So, what exactly is the world to do while it is on hold for 18-24 months?³ What do we do to stop it? Well, you see, that figure relies on a figure tuned to one particular pharmaceutical company who said that in about a year we might have a vaccine ready to be tested, which is (fortunately) a lengthy procedure.

Until then it looks like the state has devolved (or, likely, in their estimation evolved) into fascism. This of course, was the goal all along, to stage a revolution, to confront liberalism in its political form, democracy, a careful bargain struck between a working class and the ruling class. You see, the left allowed to some extent for this walk up to happen. We advocated against laws, against using the legal system, but not against using the electoral system. We let ourselves see the law as flowing from the electoral system rather than from class relations. Now, we are living through what Steve Bannon called,”I think when you look at any kind of revolution — and this is a revolution — you always have some groups that are disparate. I think that will all burn away over time and you’ll see more of a mainstream center-right populist movement.”⁴ So, what was the goal of the “center right” movement the whole time? The abolition of capital, the return of the monarchy, and the end of, not contradiction, but social division.

It looks like ruling class calls to “abolish the dollar”⁵ in response to “the coming recession” as early as September, 2019. It looks like using a racially biased system to determine the likelihood of contagion of illness.⁶ It looks like the fascist states using “counter-terrorism” technology previously deployed on the colonized land in Palestine to track your movements, calls, and contact.⁷ All being praised by the liberal technocrats for being the “only way to save the nation” by suspending habeas corpus.⁸ Meanwhile, the state of Pennsylvania has suspended public hearings, and is conducting all hearings behind closed doors⁹ and New Jersey is activating military on it’s streets and enforcing an 8pm curfew.

The question has moved from, “what would you do in the event of a fascist takeover?” And has largely become, what are you doing now that the suspension of civil rights is being enforced? Will you cheer as the spectacle tells you that the “complete commodification of previously untouched spheres of life by capital,” as Debord so thoughtfully predicted 60 years ago occcurs? Because to date, the sound of the left in response to the fascist roll back of civil rights by the bourgeois state has been to tell us that it is necessary for public safety. We will not have a reichstag because there will be no need, in the post-9/11 world, where the PATRIOT ACT ruled, many are too young to remember a world that was pre-mass surveillance. I hope that my generations children will not have a similar gap, between those who remember a life that was not post-civil rights.

The calls must be the same as they always were, but they must be intensified, gone is the time for compromise, and gone is our ability to ask for it. The abolition of the value form, the extension of medical protections, the unmitigated rights of the working class to all that they create, and the abolition of the prison house of nations. Failure to stand and fight for these demands may mean that we are more than just approaching fascism, but that we will be remembered as the most reactionary and stupid left in history. Too arrogant to believe we were duped, and who welcomed fascism, not with lead, but with the cheer that it was “necessary.”