So today we’re going to be looking at The Death of Liberal Democracy? by Rhyd Wildermuth. Because if there’s any man qualified to speak about liberal democracy dying, it’s the man who quite often has called for its head. I’m sure maximum ironies are about to occur here.
On Friday, June 24th, 2016, a majority of people voting in a referendum in the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union.
On June 19th, 2016, the Mexican state began arresting and killing striking teachers in Oaxaca.
On June 17th, 2016, French workers filled the streets of every major city as part of a general strike against a new labor law.
First off, I would like to again congratulate the people of the UK for managing to take back their democratic and sovereign rights from the unelected oligarchy that is the EU. I know that initially there is going to be some confusion, but I have faith that the peoples of the UK, especially the English, will pull through with the same tenacity that has seen them through many centuries of hardships and greatness.
Hail to the Queen, baby.
Still, sorry to hear that teachers are being killed in Mexico. That sounds terrible. On the other hand, I’m always hearing about someone being killed in Mexico by either the Government, the Cartels, or the Government Cartels (or the Cartel Governments). So I’m not sure what these teachers are striking for…but hey, maybe Rhyd will tell us. While he’s at it maybe he’ll define what this new labor law is over in France.
Though each of these three events involved radically different circumstances, politics, and players, they are alike in one specific way: they are reactions to State power and its collusion with Capital. That is, they are also crises of Liberal Democracy.
You know, I was going to go with “citation needed” but let’s be honest here. Raging Rhyd is a Communist, and to a Communist, everything looks like it’s the fault of Capitalism, because Communist countries never have these problems. Or any problems. Mostly because they kill anyone with a problem. So instead I’m going to go with this…
Which, I’ll be fair…Rhyd isn’t wrong here. From his point of view.
The UK leaving the EU is a crisis of liberal democracy. After all, if we did not have Liberal Democracies, the UK would have been unable to leave the EU and the EU would not be looking at the loss of one of its biggest cash cows. And Rhyd and friends wouldn’t be faced with the horrific nightmare of white people actually believing they have the righto self determination, their own culture, and the right to live their lives by their terms rather than as slaves to a “socially enlightened power.” All of which could have been prevented if only the UK hadn’t had access to this crisis inducing liberal democracy.
Now, since Rhyd has given no illumination as to the Mexico or France issues, I can only surmise that once again the issue arises from people believing that they have a democratic choice in voicing their beliefs (when obviously they shouldn’t) and that in the case of Mexico (which I don’t think has recently been accused of being anything near liberal or democratic) has decided to remind their people that democracy is not their right and kills them. As for France, well…at least they’re not being shot for thinking they have the right to protest.
But Comrade Rhyd is here to educate us on why this is bad, no doubt.
To compare the three may seem initially irresponsible…
Actually, to compare the three would be “irrationally stupid.” One is about national sovereignty in the face of an unelected oligarchy. One is about an authoritarian government killing schoolteachers for reasons our author does not deem to tell us. And the last one is the French…being French I guess.
So to say these three unrelated issues are all the same issue with the same cause is…irrational. But Hammers and everything being nails I guess.
I’m going to have to find more Illuminati memes for this one aren’t I?
…Many people have died in the latest uprising in Oaxaca, while no one has died in France from the strikes. And despite a leader of the Brexit campaign stating that ‘no shots were fired’ in the movement to leave the European Union, one Labor MP was indeed killed by a far-right gunman for her insistence that the UK remain as part of the EU.
I’m just going to take a moment to breath in the fact that when a Muslim, who was a registered Democrat, butchers fifty Gay people in a Gay night club in the name of ISIS…Rhyd says nothing and the only post he allows to go live about it ends up being about transphobia and TERFS….but one person gets shot who happened to be on the “Remain” side of the UK debate and suddenly he’s happy to paint all of Leave as tainted with the bloodshed.
Islam is clean. Democrats get no mentions. Omar isn’t even talked about. But one MP gets killed and suddenly all of Leave is something to be looked down upon.
Well, there’s really only one thing I can say to this. Way to be a fucking homophobe Rhyd. Nice to see you’ll sell out your own people Islam. Why don’t you just go ahead and convert. I’m sure they need the good news of Marx too.
Likewise, the movements in Oaxaca and France are being led by Leftists; in France, the uprising against the government’s Loi Travaille (which would significantly destroy hard-won worker protections) comes from Left and Far-Left unions and poltical parties, while in Oaxaca, the resistance comes from Leftist autonomist movements…
You know, I’m honestly getting the impression that Rhyd doesn’t even know what these things are about. He just saw the words “political left” and decided that they were automatically good and noble.
Also, he seems to have a double standard here. When these far left Mexican and French groups act to retain their autonomy and fight for their own self interests they’re good. But when the British decided to vote and retain their own autonomy and act in their own self interests…they’re bad.
…In the UK, however, the majority support for the exit vote came from the Right and Far-Right; in fact, the referendum was initiated by the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in order to deal with divisions in his own party between reactionaries and more mainstream politicians. More so, the Brexit vote was heavily fueled by anti-immigrant (particularly anti-muslim) sentiment; in France, the far-right party (Front National) is a primary supporter of the Loi Travaille, and Oaxaca (as well as the rest of Mexico) has a net loss of population to immigration, rather than on account of it.
Rhyd, do not act like you don’t know why “immigration” is an issue in the UK. I know you read my blog years ago when I posted about this. I remember you getting on my case about “don’t give into the Islamophobia” and I responded by offering to show you the literal crates of evidence of mass child rapes, mass assaults, murders, sharia law zones, and other crimes and harms done by Muslim immigrants to the British people. And you ran away like a little bitch. You cannot possibly have missed all the new waves of crime that has been happening since the Refugee crisis has been going on.
So do not act like these “racist brits” are making their choices in any sort of a vacuum, Rhyd. They are literally watching their daughters be gang raped and their sons beaten in the streets. And fuck you for wanting them to bend over and take it. I know you like getting it up the ass, Rhyd, but it’s not right to push your sexual preferences on to other people.
Obscured by these many differences, however, is the primary agent of the conflicts which led the UK to vote to leave, French workers to protest en masse, and Oaxacan teachers to risk getting murdered or disappeared.
Go ahead Rhyd. Tell us in your mighty wisdom what it is that causes all this horrible stuff.
In all three cases, the cause is Capital, and the primary agent of Capital is the State. And while French workers and Oaxacan teachers rose up to fight their government’s collusion with Capital, people in the UK (many with racist and xenophobic intentions) voted to strengthen their own government against the influence of foreign Capital while—frightfully–setting the stage for a vast reduction in government protections for their own minorities.
So Mexico and France are good because they fight against their governments.
But the UK is bad because it fought back against another government trying to take them over.
Funny, I thought Rhyd was against Imperialism and Colonialism, and yet here he is crying tears of rage over a Nation successfully staving off imperial colonization.
Oh, and Rhyd, that “vast reduction in government protections for minorities” business is bullshit. All it will mean is that when a Muslim rapes a woman, he’ll be punished. When a Muslim beats up a gay man, he’ll be punished. When a Muslim steals, assaults, or otherwise commits a crime, they could now be punished, where as before they would be covered for and their victim punished. And honestly, Rhyd, I don’t know why you hate women and gays so much that you want to see they’re attackers go unpunished.
Sounds like you got some serious internalized misogyny and homophobia there my man. But peace bro, nothing but love. Love Trumps Hate, after all.
All of these cases are symptoms of the impending death of Liberal Democracy, and a crisis of Capital. For Pagans, queers, transfolk, disabled folk, people of color, immigrants, and every other minority who relies upon the State for their protection, this should be very worrying—and also a wake-up call to build something more resilient, and soon.
Holy shit he’s got Syphilis.
I mean, that’s the only explanation I’ve got for these raving lunacies. Well, except maybe Dionysus actually did issue a DMCA in the best way he knows how. I mean, look at this. Rhyd is saying that anyone who is not a white, cis, heterosexual white person needs to band together and create some form of unified organization to defend themselves from…presumably all the white, cis, heterosexual white people that will no doubt come for them in the night.
I mean, what other explanation is there for why a person dedicated to fighting against racism, sexism, and genderism to be guilty of such blatant racism, sexism, and genderism if not for brain rotting bacteria obtained via unprotected sex. I mean, it couldn’t be that he’s honestly a sexist and a racist who hates an entire group of people and believes they should be subjugated, their cultures destroyed, and their way of lives erased simply because of their skin color and sexual orientations…could it? That’s got to be impossible.
To understand how to do this, though, we must understand the relationship between Capital and the State, and before that, we need first to look at what Liberal Democracy is.
Go ahead Rhyd, I cannot wait to see what you think a liberal democracy is. But everyone is going to have to wait for Part 2. I’ll be honest, I’m expecting chronomancer space lizard overlords.
Bellona Invicta
Son of Hel 
The issue in France and Mexico are far more complex that he writes about. France is doing a version of what Britain is doing, declaring sovereignty from the EU bureaucracy and its rules. France is in an economic downspin, and is trying to shore up its economy.
Mexico at present is becoming a failed state much like Pakistan and countries in Africa.
I do believe that our favourite person is really railing against Keynesian economics, which has been an economic force since the end of World War II.
From wikipedia –
Keynesian economists often argue that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes which require active policy responses by the public sector, in particular, monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government, in order to stabilize output over the business cycle.[3] Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy – predominantly private sector, but with a role for government intervention during recessions.
Keynesian economics served as the standard economic model in the developed nations during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the oil shock and resulting stagflation of the 1970s.[4] The advent of the financial crisis of 2007–08 caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought,[5] which continues as new Keynesian economics.Keynesian economists often argue that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes which require active policy responses by the public sector, in particular, monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government, in order to stabilize output over the business cycle.[3] Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy – predominantly private sector, but with a role for government intervention during recessions.
Keynesian economics served as the standard economic model in the developed nations during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the oil shock and resulting stagflation of the 1970s.[4] The advent of the financial crisis of 2007–08 caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought,[5] which continues as new Keynesian economics.
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It started faltering in the early 70s when nations struggled with the Gold Standard. Nations valued gold differently, until finally Nixon took the U.S. off the Standard, and let the U.S. dollar free float. Then the IMF and World Bank abandoned the practise, and allowed currencies to be pegged to the U.S. dollar. That was the beginning of the end for Keynesian economics but by then the Universities were only teaching that theory and monetary and financial authorities became firmly entrenched in Keynes’ policies. The problem now is that we are in a post-Keynesian economy, and no one has yet to come up with anything to replace it.
Marxist theory doesn’t do well against the new economic system we are grappling with. It is firmly based in what was happening in the 19th century, and doesn’t take into account multinational corporations, international monetary agreements, and advanced technology. In other words, our favourite commentator knows enough to be dangerous as in “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” He lacks the breadth of knowledge to see the whole.
Sorry to go on with these comments, but I think that people should know what it is they are discussing.
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Plus the chief failing of Marxist theory – it ALSO assumes an ever expanding economy. It doesn’t work EITHER in a steady state or deflating economy. Weird but true.
Some of Marx’s theories are drawn from feudal times and do actually work – the concept of a coop is related to a guild, and the guilds controlled prices via the Crown. This actually protects worker interests, product quality, AND the tax base even in a steady state economy because it prohibits cheap imports of questionable quality from flooding the markets.
A lot of the other ones, especially the theory of falling value (IIRC), DON’T work unless the economy is eternally expanding and finding new markets.
I’m sure these pesky details bother the hel out of Rhyd and his G&R buddies so they conveniently ignore them though…..
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i can tell it bothers them, because in one breath they’ll complain about protectionism and things like that, and in the next breath they make an argument for protectionism. They can’t figure out if they’re supporting the rights of workers or the rights of globalization.
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I agree – on one hand they want a monoculture, but on the other hand they want to be protected. I do believe that they are incongruent about many things. Basically, I believe it is a kvetching site for some people.
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all good. I can’t know everything and I like when comments expand knowledge
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i wish more did read your stuff. It brings another perspective on a lot of things.
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On the idea he has syphilis: also might be a Dionysian affliction. We ARE a cultus dedicated to drunken madness and ecstasy after all. 🙂
But really, bravo to Virginia and Tinfoil Hat, that’s precisely the issue with Marxist economics. And double points to you Virginia for recognising France’s motivations. The rise of nationalism is effecting Belgium too, and we’ve been screwed royally by the EU. We pay obnoxious amounts of money (that we don’t have) because they have levied a fee for daring to have an economic crisis instead of continuing to conform to their standard of economic growth.
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