Military contractor Erik Prince started a private WhatsApp group for his close associates that includes a menagerie of right-wing government officials, intelligence operatives, arms traffickers, and journalists. We got their messages.
Even more farcical was the manner in which group chat members portrayed themselves as rightful guardians of democracy, even as they proposed employing military force against their unarmed domestic political opponents and rounding up members of the “global cabal” for trial at a Nuremberg-style tribunal. It’s blazingly evident that many in the group can’t even define democracy, and those who can don’t like it.
They don't need to be coherent. Some of them think they are being guardians. Others are not so stupid, know that it's not a real democracy to begin with, and also want to overthrow even what little exists because it's in the way or dangerous to what they want. What they all have in common however is that they all think they're protecting SOMETHING. That thing is the rule of the bourgeoisie whether they all consciously realise it or not.
I sent messages seeking comment to Prince and the 29 participants whose comments in the group chat are cited in this story. Prince did not respond. Of the others, only Barnett, Jacobson, and Goldhorn were willing to be interviewed.
Three idiots that won't be invited to anything in future. Their comments can be dismissed the rest of the article is twaddle.
The groups I see on display:
The smart nazis, educated and on par with marxists but evil fucks. Dangerous.
The dumb nazis, death cultists.
The imperial fascists. They're ideologically aligned with the nazis but they have an aversion to mass death and clash with the death cult and smart nazis over it.
The patriotic dumbasses. They're dumb as shit but some of them have inherited money. Most are failsons and they genuinely don't have any coherence or good political analysis at all.
The CEOs. They're in it for self enrichment. Mostly networking.
The smart nazis, educated and on par with marxists but evil fucks. Dangerous.
These will be the people in charge of a successful fascist movement since they actually have some degree of materialist analysis and can broker alliances and blocs between the other groups.
The dumb nazis, death cultists.
These will be the shock troopers and Freikorp-turned-concentration guard. Death cultists commanded by smart fascists capable of strategic thought are a lethal combo.
The imperial fascists. They're ideologically aligned with the nazis but they have an aversion to mass death and clash with the death cult and smart nazis over it.
They are the ones most likely to be a political threat to the smart Nazis since they are operating under a different fascist ideology and aren't stupid enough to be content with being ordered around like an expendable grunt. There's a decent chance the smart Nazis would attempt to liquidate the imperial fascists who refuse to flip in order to consolidate power, and even if there's a united front between smart Nazis and imperial fascists, they are the weakest link.
The patriotic dumbasses. They're dumb as shit but some of them have inherited money. Most are failsons and they genuinely don't have any coherence or good political analysis at all.
These are just cannon fodder who will do as they're told like good little Eichmanns.
The CEOs. They're in it for self enrichment. Mostly networking.
They are just members of the bourgeoisie who are willing to make a Faustian bargain with fascists, which usually turns out well for them if we're being perfectly honest. Smart Nazis and imperial fascists will try to court them while they will not be spared if dumb Nazis are in control. Smart Nazis will use this to their advantage to make a case that they're the only ones who can muzzle the dumb Nazis.
Completely agree. The only thing I'm particularly uncertain about is whether the quantity of "smart nazis" is actually high enough and that they're well organised and concentrated enough. I don't think they are, not yet. I think they're disorganised and scattered internationally without a true concentration of them in any given country. There are some smart nazis leading a lot of dumb ones but they lack enough smart nazis to scale up without their organisations falling apart under the weight of incredible stupidity that the dumb nazis and patriots constantly exhibit.
Why? Because liberal political education and analysis makes these people incredibly stupid. They're swimming in a soup of idealism and complete misunderstandings about the material world around them. There are not enough people with the ability to do real material political analysis.
Can you name 100 smart fascists that could take up the leading roles of an administration in the US? How about a few thousand to then also take up the state level roles?
They don't have the numbers. They have a lot of death cultists and a lot of incredibly stupid people. They are reliant on the imperial fascists to make up the roles that they can't fill. For this reason we are quite a long way from them liquidating the imperial faction.
I don't even know how they would solve this problem.
I think it would just be a complex interplay between the smart Nazis, the imperial fascists, and the CEOs. The smart Nazis might be small in number, but if they can make their case before various crucial members of the bourgeoisie, the reins of state power will be handed to them and everyone else will either do or forced to do as they're told. I guess the key factor would be whether those CEOs are ideologically sympathetic enough towards their ideology in order to look past their small numbers.
A lot of the rise to power of the original Nazis boils down to various German industrialists and bankers thinking Nazis will be champions to their class. It had little to do with the Nazis being alleged brilliant political strategists. Obviously, liberal historians don't like to focus on this since it's an indictment of liberalism and capitalism that they'll decay to fascism, so they tunnelvision on Hitler being a charismatic speaker or Goebbels being able to brainwash people with propaganda.
I think it would just be a complex interplay between the smart Nazis, the imperial fascists, and the CEOs. The smart Nazis might be small in number, but if they can make their case before various crucial members of the bourgeoisie, the reins of state power will be handed to them and everyone else will either do or forced to do as they're told. I guess the key factor would be whether those CEOs are ideologically sympathetic enough towards their ideology in order to look past their small numbers.
Yeah but this will eventually lead to a swapping of power. The only way the smart nazis take and then maintain their power is by having enough of them to do it at a scale where they can at least somewhat competently fill in most leadership positions. They won't liquidate the imperial fascists while they still require their competence. So there will be a power struggle between the two and a permanent exchanging of power until they've got the numbers.
A lot of the rise to power of the original Nazis boils down to various German industrialists and bankers thinking Nazis will be champions to their class. It had little to do with the Nazis being alleged brilliant political strategists. Obviously, liberal historians don't like to focus on this since it's an indictment of liberalism and capitalism that they'll decay to fascism, so they tunnelvision on Hitler being a charismatic speaker or Goebbels being able to brainwash people with propaganda.
Yes but crucially I think there were a lot more smart nazis than there are today. The fascist movements across europe had festered for many decades and they had organised and organised and organised, very much in the open and without being taboo.
Yes but crucially I think there were a lot more smart nazis than there are today. The fascist movements across europe had festered for many decades and they had organised and organised and organised, very much in the open and without being taboo.
Yes, that makes sense. I think in general, socialists and other progressive elements have learned from their past mistakes while reactionaries have gotten worse. Zionism then and now is an illustrative comparison. Labor Zionism was completely insidious to the point of even fooling Stalin while modern Kahanists think bioengineering a red heifer will bring about the Messiah.
It does not escape my amusement that we're talking about smart nazis and imperial fascists (the neoliberals) as also smart... But in the context of the past they're dumb as shit.
I think the strongest illustration of this has been how we got to watch Kissinger get shunned for being pragmatic and coherent about the Ukraine war and situation with China.
Part of the reason these people are doing badly and have also not really organised very well at all is that they have no competence and shun one another much too hard for not following this dogma or that dogma.
I think a problem that exists for empires once they become large enough is that when you become the makers of reality your leadership can't keep up with the pace of change when that is no longer true. They are still trying to bend reality, to make and invent it. They had the power to do so before, they could just make it so. They still try to but it doesn't work anymore and those that have tried to point this out have been cast aside as they fruitlessly try to make-reality even harder.
This blinds them to the need to accept and follow the changing material conditions.
[cont]
They don't need to be coherent. Some of them think they are being guardians. Others are not so stupid, know that it's not a real democracy to begin with, and also want to overthrow even what little exists because it's in the way or dangerous to what they want. What they all have in common however is that they all think they're protecting SOMETHING. That thing is the rule of the bourgeoisie whether they all consciously realise it or not.
Three idiots that won't be invited to anything in future. Their comments can be dismissed the rest of the article is twaddle.
The groups I see on display:
The smart nazis, educated and on par with marxists but evil fucks. Dangerous.
The dumb nazis, death cultists.
The imperial fascists. They're ideologically aligned with the nazis but they have an aversion to mass death and clash with the death cult and smart nazis over it.
The patriotic dumbasses. They're dumb as shit but some of them have inherited money. Most are failsons and they genuinely don't have any coherence or good political analysis at all.
The CEOs. They're in it for self enrichment. Mostly networking.
These will be the people in charge of a successful fascist movement since they actually have some degree of materialist analysis and can broker alliances and blocs between the other groups.
These will be the shock troopers and Freikorp-turned-concentration guard. Death cultists commanded by smart fascists capable of strategic thought are a lethal combo.
They are the ones most likely to be a political threat to the smart Nazis since they are operating under a different fascist ideology and aren't stupid enough to be content with being ordered around like an expendable grunt. There's a decent chance the smart Nazis would attempt to liquidate the imperial fascists who refuse to flip in order to consolidate power, and even if there's a united front between smart Nazis and imperial fascists, they are the weakest link.
These are just cannon fodder who will do as they're told like good little Eichmanns.
They are just members of the bourgeoisie who are willing to make a Faustian bargain with fascists, which usually turns out well for them if we're being perfectly honest. Smart Nazis and imperial fascists will try to court them while they will not be spared if dumb Nazis are in control. Smart Nazis will use this to their advantage to make a case that they're the only ones who can muzzle the dumb Nazis.
Completely agree. The only thing I'm particularly uncertain about is whether the quantity of "smart nazis" is actually high enough and that they're well organised and concentrated enough. I don't think they are, not yet. I think they're disorganised and scattered internationally without a true concentration of them in any given country. There are some smart nazis leading a lot of dumb ones but they lack enough smart nazis to scale up without their organisations falling apart under the weight of incredible stupidity that the dumb nazis and patriots constantly exhibit.
Why? Because liberal political education and analysis makes these people incredibly stupid. They're swimming in a soup of idealism and complete misunderstandings about the material world around them. There are not enough people with the ability to do real material political analysis.
Can you name 100 smart fascists that could take up the leading roles of an administration in the US? How about a few thousand to then also take up the state level roles?
They don't have the numbers. They have a lot of death cultists and a lot of incredibly stupid people. They are reliant on the imperial fascists to make up the roles that they can't fill. For this reason we are quite a long way from them liquidating the imperial faction.
I don't even know how they would solve this problem.
I think it would just be a complex interplay between the smart Nazis, the imperial fascists, and the CEOs. The smart Nazis might be small in number, but if they can make their case before various crucial members of the bourgeoisie, the reins of state power will be handed to them and everyone else will either do or forced to do as they're told. I guess the key factor would be whether those CEOs are ideologically sympathetic enough towards their ideology in order to look past their small numbers.
A lot of the rise to power of the original Nazis boils down to various German industrialists and bankers thinking Nazis will be champions to their class. It had little to do with the Nazis being alleged brilliant political strategists. Obviously, liberal historians don't like to focus on this since it's an indictment of liberalism and capitalism that they'll decay to fascism, so they tunnelvision on Hitler being a charismatic speaker or Goebbels being able to brainwash people with propaganda.
Yeah but this will eventually lead to a swapping of power. The only way the smart nazis take and then maintain their power is by having enough of them to do it at a scale where they can at least somewhat competently fill in most leadership positions. They won't liquidate the imperial fascists while they still require their competence. So there will be a power struggle between the two and a permanent exchanging of power until they've got the numbers.
Yes but crucially I think there were a lot more smart nazis than there are today. The fascist movements across europe had festered for many decades and they had organised and organised and organised, very much in the open and without being taboo.
Yes, that makes sense. I think in general, socialists and other progressive elements have learned from their past mistakes while reactionaries have gotten worse. Zionism then and now is an illustrative comparison. Labor Zionism was completely insidious to the point of even fooling Stalin while modern Kahanists think bioengineering a red heifer will bring about the Messiah.
It does not escape my amusement that we're talking about smart nazis and imperial fascists (the neoliberals) as also smart... But in the context of the past they're dumb as shit.
I think the strongest illustration of this has been how we got to watch Kissinger get shunned for being pragmatic and coherent about the Ukraine war and situation with China.
Part of the reason these people are doing badly and have also not really organised very well at all is that they have no competence and shun one another much too hard for not following this dogma or that dogma.
I think a problem that exists for empires once they become large enough is that when you become the makers of reality your leadership can't keep up with the pace of change when that is no longer true. They are still trying to bend reality, to make and invent it. They had the power to do so before, they could just make it so. They still try to but it doesn't work anymore and those that have tried to point this out have been cast aside as they fruitlessly try to make-reality even harder.
This blinds them to the need to accept and follow the changing material conditions.