I just had an article published at The UnPopulist, which seems really appropriate given my long track record of writing unpopular things.
But seriously, I’m an admirer of Shikha Dalmia’s efforts at The UnPopulist to expose and examine the global trend toward authoritarian populism. My own contribution is a look at a speech given by Italy’s incoming prime minister, Georgia Meloni—which was rapturously received by American conservatives—and a surprisingly similar speech given by Vladimir Putin. The common thread is the development of an illiberal synthesis of left and right, a “weird combination of the conservative culture war and an anti-capitalist conspiracy theory about ‘financial speculators.’”
This is a reference to Meloni’s bizarre assertion that “wokeness” is being used to turn us all into “consumer slaves” who will be “at the mercy of financial speculators.”
The phrase “consumer slaves” sums up the contradiction. A slave is, by definition, not a consumer; a slave is allowed no claim on what he produces. It is even more nonsensical when you consider what “consumer” means in this context. The word “consumer” is so broad and vague as to be almost meaningless; there is no one in the modern world who is not a consumer of something. But the use of the term “consumer” has become shorthand for the mass prosperity of developed societies, where the immediate demands for the basics of food, clothing and shelter have been met. So people’s desires expand for bigger and better cars and more gadgets.
In this sense, though, the first great “consumer” society was probably America in the 1950s—long before “wokeness” awakened. And the whole edifice of modern commerce and capitalism was built long before anyone cared what pronouns you use. It was Adam Smith who observed, almost 250 years ago, the natural human “propensity to truck, barter, and exchange”—a basic element of human nature that was not summoned into existence in the era of transgender activists.
“Wokeness” itself, to the extent it means anything, refers to the popular influence of a school of “critical theory” developed by college professors who regard the modern form of capitalism as a tool of oppression.
In short, there is no sane reason to believe that contemporary “wokeness” underpins big business or consumer culture or an international conspiracy of bankers. This Underpants Gnomes-style theory in which wokeness equals profits doesn’t add up. But don’t bother to examine this particular folly, ask only what it accomplishes. It allows for a kind of illiberal synthesis that combines the rhetoric and priorities of the illiberal right—nationalistic, religiously intolerant, and socially conservative—with the appeal to envy of the illiberal left.
The pattern is even more striking in Putin’s speech, which recycles the left-wing propaganda of his old glory days in the KGB, while combining it with an appeal to “traditional values and authentic cultures” and a lot of the same culture war complaints against wokeness.
We might recognize this synthesis of right-wing traditionalism and anti-capitalism as a signature of fascism, which was crafted out of communism by Benito Mussolini, whom Meloni once praised as a young political activist. I don’t call Meloni a fascist (though I think Shikha really wanted me to) because her positions seem to have moderated since then—though in this country, the association would be enough to end someone’s political career, and rightly so.
But there is no reason to hold back on calling Putin a fascist, and he made that clear by ending his speech by quoting from Ivan Ilyin, a self-declared Russian fascist.
I end with a warning that It Can Happen Here:
Putin ended his speech by sketching out his ambitions for Russia to once again lead a global movement with sympathizers in the West, promising his audience, “We have many like-minded people in Europe and the United States.” And he might be right about that.
Outright collusion between Russia and the European and American right is not necessary. We can already see a common worldview and a shared ideological synthesis of the illiberal left and the illiberal right taking shape.
A report from the most recent conference of nationalist conservatives underscores this illiberal synthesis.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Tracinski Letter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.