Politics/Book Review - Alt Reich by Nafeez Ahmed
The destruction of the West from within...
This is a great book and worth a read.
By the West, Ahmed might be seen to be referring to the idea of liberal democracies based on meritocracy, justice, and fairness.
Ahmed looks at how eugenics is finding its way into mainstream media through the work of powerful and wealthy elites who seek to protect their advantage, blame the Other, and use obscure networks to push their beliefs on others.
This is based on attacking the idea of internationalism and supranational entities such as the UN, NATO, and the EU to push far-right populist governments across the world. These governments will seek to blame minorities and push racist ideas to keep people distracted and in fear. This will mean the state and society can be privatised and taken over by far-right culture warriors and vested interests. Tax for the wealthy and for corporations will be cut and media will be dominated by private wealthy interests, both overtly and covertly.
Interestingly, Ahmed looks at how Russia and the USA will become two parts of the same coin, undermining the EU and European Democracy, using online algorithms and cyber warfare. Since Ahmed’s book was published the more secretive Russian attempts to reduce Europe to a Russia-friendly vassal state and the more overt US attempts to push far-right pro-Russia/MAGA agendas, have been taken to even more staggering levels by Musk and co. I think even Trump is shocked by how easy it has been to destroy things.
Think tanks, social media, government, influencers, and right-wing parties form a network of connected branches of the same global hydra. Ahmed expertly follows the money and the networks. Some of the most disturbing stuff is the close examination of the ideas of some of these new elites with regard to colonising space and creating small nation-states run by the oligarchical master race.
Russia may attack from the outside, but the networks that will destroy liberal democracy will come from within, as the idea of progress, combating climate change, and social justice are attacked by vested interests and their proxies. Social Media has become a drug that floods the zone with more and more shit. And it makes people want more.
Steve Bannon always said that things were going to go populist as inequality across the West became consolidated. He said it would either be the Left or the Right. The Right’s message of blaming the foreigner, the internal minority, and the immigrant reduces their message to the soundbites needed to ensure Brexit and Trump wins. The Left is left floundering in the wake of post-Covid conspiracy theories, media bias, gaslighting with a smirk and a smile, and the war on truth.
Sadly, many on the far left are now parroting some of the same nonsense as the far right, while hoping that economic justice and equality can be wedged onto the populist sled and directed leftwards. Being critical of undiluted identity politics is one thing. Applauding Russian victory in Ukraine as NATO dissolves is another thing entirely.
What can the Left do? As the vanilla Democrats look about in despair in the US, in the UK Labour struggles to find a narrative and a way forward. Is it time to make economic justice front and centre under organised leadership and effective communicators?
We need to find a way forward asap. There is much to lose.