“Every actual democracy rests on the principle that not only are equals equal but unequals will not be treated equally. Democracy requires, therefore, first homogeneity and second—if the need arises elimination or eradication of heterogeneity.”
Mid-20th Century Jurist and Scholar Carl Schmitt
As the failed Harris run for the presidency undergoes a litany of post-mortem analyses, the focus has been on issues – which may resonate – but which are merely offshoots of a nastier vector, highly evident in Donald Trump’s insistence of blind loyalty to him (look at his demand that all Senate Republicans must confirm his cabinet-level nominees or face retribution). A philosopher from the 1920s-30s, dismissed an issue approach to politics, insisted on the efficiency of a single decider… and divided the electorate and leadership into two immutable segments: friends and enemies. And those who are not absolute “friends” are, simply, “enemies.”
“[Carl] Schmitt’s [above left] brilliance lay in his unflinching, unsentimental analysis of the baser notions of politics. He knew only too well the power of xenophobia and hatred to mobilise mass support. He saw at first hand the attraction of a leader who could cut through political or constitutional quagmires to ‘save’ the nation. Even as a jurist, he felt the rush of emotion in a crowd when a leader articulates their deepest fears and desires.” The Conversation, 5/26/16 Schmitt’s influence framed the early tenets of Hitler’s ascent under his Nazi banner. By 1936, Schmitt was ousted from the Nazi Party, but his underlying message that absolute fealty to a sovereign leader was basic building block for any successful political leader.
There is no middle ground in his assessment: There are friends and there are enemies. Even if everyone managed to become friends, Schmitt holds we would make someone an enemy just because that is human nature and that is what politics is about. Without the struggle life is shallow, adding that a view that we don’t have enemies is a flawed view of human nature. “Man lusts for domination.” As the opening quote sustains, particularly salient for the death of any DEI initiatives. Schmitt’s philosophy underlies every autocracy from the 1930s into the present day. He even accounts for old enemies to see the folly in their beliefs, flip-flopping into becoming friends.
This is very much like Donald Trump’s bizarre approach to foreign policy. Kim-Jong-un was an enemy, then a friend and then back to being an enemy. This seeming inconsistency just might yield an agreement between a MAGA administration and Iran. Trump also wants to show how his raw power produces results… hence attacking (literally or figuratively) helpless nations (like Colombia, Panama and even Denmark), or using tariffs to pressure enemies to accept his goals… a core Trump approach, which makes the United States’ signature on a treaty meaningless. The cost of this approach is the growth of a profound lack of trust in US commitments, as even purported “friends” circle their wagons against MAGA policies.
As you watch brilliant Democratic icons, like Rhodes Scholar, MSNBC’s Rachael Madow (above right), articulate clear hypocrisy, unmet promises and outright deceit from Trump and his MAGA adherents, you are missing the McLuhanesque “the medium is the message” mantra. The anti-MAGA’s primary medium of choice is television, with a much looser, disorganized campaign in social media, a marketing arena that Trump (and Musk) have pushed with billions of investment capital. But the MAGA voice is heavily dominates social medial to carry their message.
By its very nature, social media approach is a highly filtered; The Trump effort here has successfully sold a pro-authoritarian flood of rightwing blame (i.e., against the “enemies”) where denigration, marginalization with a pledge of retribution are dominant. It is strange that a famous elderly television icon – Donald Trump – has long since recognized that television is a medium for the elderly… and is rapidly declining in today’s world.
Once you apply this “absolute friend or you are my enemy” approach, the MAGA movement becomes clearer. There was no voter Trump “mandate,” but if you deny that there was, you are an “enemy.” While immigration issues are often discussed in terms of taking jobs or enabling more criminal activity, the flood of negative description of the immigrants themselves comes down to one vector: they are our enemies and must be stopped.
With Trump’s de facto co-president, Elon Musk, openly supporting the rise of the German neo-Nazi AfD Party, among other rising autocratic political movements – even looking at what appears to be an on-strange Nazi salute in celebrating Trump’s victory – this Nazi era friends-enemies dichotomy becomes a much better way of understanding Trump’s vision for leadership. And remember, while Adolph Hitler was elected in the early stages of his governance… he managed to kill further elections in order more effectively to defeat the “enemies of the German people”… like the deep state enablers: Jews.
I’m Peter Dekom, and as Trump-voters realize how much worse off they are at every level, if they do, Trump’s efforts at continuing MAGA necessarily requires voter restrictions or the elimination of elections altogether.
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