Thanks for this. Parts of the analysis made me search for Arendt in my head when she talks about the death of value at the altar of new forms of power which have emerged. Nuclear weapons changed the way we can conceive of ourselves and others because of its awe-inspiring destruction. The commentary I think in Arendt when she discusses power interlocks with your valuable analysis of Agamben here.
I'm not the biggest Agamben fan and your description of his willingness to unleash politics seems at first glance to perhaps conflict with his other writings in Homosacer and state of exception where to me he appears nervous of this kind of action. The danger of unleashing a goal comes with it the Trumpian style of leadership of leading people to the promised land. In some ways we do need to find a common goal but goals are just as dangerous as apathy for me.
I can see that tension in Agamben. I think it's interesting that the mini-essays he publishes online tend to be more political and positive than the Homo Sacer writings. I need to read more Arendt!
I did not know he published mini-essays online. I'll definitely have to take a look! Arendt really does split opinion but the more I've read of her the more I appreciate her writing tbh.
Your analysis seems to be missing the most important word in Mr. White's analysis...though to be honest Mr. Krastev & Mr. Bernardo seem to miss it too:
"White’s argument is that, just as humans die in the absence of air to breathe, democracy can die from the inability to dream **collectively.**"
The loss of cross-cutting social identities outside of or prior to partisan politics - the lack of social collective in the first place - is breaking polities just as much as any loss of the power to dream.
Negative polarization - active dislike of the other side - is more powerful than positive affection to one's own political party. People are about as likely to disapprove of dating outside one's own political bubble now as they were to disapprove of of dating outside of their religion or race 60 years ago. People are even losing a sense of being tied to the past and future of their own countries, communities, and even families, as TFR tanks.
What if there is no end? Time just... carries on. Nonsensically. Undramatically. An Infinite Game. To my mind, this is what democracy is predicated on: https://tempo.substack.com/p/losing
If it is to function, what democracy cannot have is an end time.
Masculine/Patriarchy needs a 'goal' because this side of our ying/yang-consciousness duality is individual, conquest-minded, linear, transactional, efficiency focused, isolated, 'not here but we need to be there' mindset. We shouldn't assume the 'goal-seekers' are 100% of our population. And, yes, feminine too can be goal seekers.
Feminine/Matriarchy is the side of our humanity which innately defaults to the collective, cyclical, relational, holism focused, integrated, 'here is everything so let's take care of it' mindset. Just the biological fact that women's bodies are 'cyclical by nature' forges them into an entirely different prioritization stream than the Masculine. One much more aligned with the rhythm of Nature. And, yes, masculine can be can be in Nature's rhythm too.
This is a ginormous fundamental first principle that never gets highlighted enough...discussed in depth and honored as the pivotal fulcrum of the homo sapiens species. Most men haven't even heard of such, much less given a little effort to grasp it...then actually structures a society that honors these two vital sides of our intertwined composition.
Of course, the Trumpist movement needs a goal because it's purely cultivated in only the Male/Patriarchal Worldview...of course it must 'conquer Nature', 'conquer Women', 'conquer other Nations', 'conquer the Cosmos.' (colonize Mars)
But it is now on us to begin to see, by the way they afford so readily, that the Trumpist movement is a garish-cartoon-caricature of Toxic Masculinity run amok that originated in this country back in 1619. When our Dutch ancestry first ripped people away from their families in Africa to toil unpaid...for centuries...toward achieving the goals of the oligarchs back then.
Enough.
It is the Patriarchal, Capitalist, Colonist, White Supremacist, Christian SkyDaddy mindset that brought us here...from at least 2,000 years ago...that has us 'goal' focused. That's our adolescent-aged problem, as a species, and it's killing us.
Thanks for this. Parts of the analysis made me search for Arendt in my head when she talks about the death of value at the altar of new forms of power which have emerged. Nuclear weapons changed the way we can conceive of ourselves and others because of its awe-inspiring destruction. The commentary I think in Arendt when she discusses power interlocks with your valuable analysis of Agamben here.
I'm not the biggest Agamben fan and your description of his willingness to unleash politics seems at first glance to perhaps conflict with his other writings in Homosacer and state of exception where to me he appears nervous of this kind of action. The danger of unleashing a goal comes with it the Trumpian style of leadership of leading people to the promised land. In some ways we do need to find a common goal but goals are just as dangerous as apathy for me.
I can see that tension in Agamben. I think it's interesting that the mini-essays he publishes online tend to be more political and positive than the Homo Sacer writings. I need to read more Arendt!
I did not know he published mini-essays online. I'll definitely have to take a look! Arendt really does split opinion but the more I've read of her the more I appreciate her writing tbh.
Here's his online stuff: https://www.quodlibet.it/una-voce-giorgio-agamben
that's great thanks :)
I sure as hell don’t to be in Mr Rebnoi’s movie!
Your analysis seems to be missing the most important word in Mr. White's analysis...though to be honest Mr. Krastev & Mr. Bernardo seem to miss it too:
"White’s argument is that, just as humans die in the absence of air to breathe, democracy can die from the inability to dream **collectively.**"
The loss of cross-cutting social identities outside of or prior to partisan politics - the lack of social collective in the first place - is breaking polities just as much as any loss of the power to dream.
Negative polarization - active dislike of the other side - is more powerful than positive affection to one's own political party. People are about as likely to disapprove of dating outside one's own political bubble now as they were to disapprove of of dating outside of their religion or race 60 years ago. People are even losing a sense of being tied to the past and future of their own countries, communities, and even families, as TFR tanks.
What if there is no end? Time just... carries on. Nonsensically. Undramatically. An Infinite Game. To my mind, this is what democracy is predicated on: https://tempo.substack.com/p/losing
If it is to function, what democracy cannot have is an end time.
The human need for a 'goal' is only 50% correct.
Masculine/Patriarchy needs a 'goal' because this side of our ying/yang-consciousness duality is individual, conquest-minded, linear, transactional, efficiency focused, isolated, 'not here but we need to be there' mindset. We shouldn't assume the 'goal-seekers' are 100% of our population. And, yes, feminine too can be goal seekers.
Feminine/Matriarchy is the side of our humanity which innately defaults to the collective, cyclical, relational, holism focused, integrated, 'here is everything so let's take care of it' mindset. Just the biological fact that women's bodies are 'cyclical by nature' forges them into an entirely different prioritization stream than the Masculine. One much more aligned with the rhythm of Nature. And, yes, masculine can be can be in Nature's rhythm too.
This is a ginormous fundamental first principle that never gets highlighted enough...discussed in depth and honored as the pivotal fulcrum of the homo sapiens species. Most men haven't even heard of such, much less given a little effort to grasp it...then actually structures a society that honors these two vital sides of our intertwined composition.
Of course, the Trumpist movement needs a goal because it's purely cultivated in only the Male/Patriarchal Worldview...of course it must 'conquer Nature', 'conquer Women', 'conquer other Nations', 'conquer the Cosmos.' (colonize Mars)
But it is now on us to begin to see, by the way they afford so readily, that the Trumpist movement is a garish-cartoon-caricature of Toxic Masculinity run amok that originated in this country back in 1619. When our Dutch ancestry first ripped people away from their families in Africa to toil unpaid...for centuries...toward achieving the goals of the oligarchs back then.
Enough.
It is the Patriarchal, Capitalist, Colonist, White Supremacist, Christian SkyDaddy mindset that brought us here...from at least 2,000 years ago...that has us 'goal' focused. That's our adolescent-aged problem, as a species, and it's killing us.
A short bibliography on unhopefulness (not for the faint of heart!):
"The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power" by Steve Fraser
"They Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Hate Government and Love the Free Market" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
"Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy" by Katherine Stewart