Very insightful as always, but I might disagree with you a little about Covid. Across society it was fragmenting as you say, but within some societies it gave us a crucial opportunity to build community and see what real community could & should be. We had a very successful Mutual Aid program in my little city and I've read about Mutual Aid initiatives in NYC that operated block by block. David Graeber wrote about this aspect shortly before his death: https://mirror.anarhija.net/usa.anarchistlibraries.net/mirror/d/dg/david-graeber-after-the-pandemic-we-can-t-go-back-to-sleep.a4.pdf
I agree with this. I think Covid lockdown and 9/11 are analogues in that certain connections were made and certain communities and identities were strengthened, while simultaneously other communities were ignored, excluded, and harmed. It’s extremely disquieting to read the idea that some kind of “national identity” or belonging or shared project of humanity came out of 9/11. As far as I can see if any national / societal connections and identities/shared purpose were built or felt in the U.S. they were explicitly at the expense of Muslims/anyone perceived as Muslim or Arab adjacent - which of course predated 9/11, as has been explicitly documented from the 19th century on (ie orientalism, like anti Blackness is a foundational paradigm of the U.S./West/colonial and neocolonial project). Muslims are not just a footnote so to say (except Muslims of course) seems to be a bit antithetical to the spirit of the rest of the article. Dehumanization is dehumanization is dehumanization, and plenty of people in the wake of 9/11 were celebrated for berating and harming Muslims as this white woman calling a Black child a slur now. It’s just slightly more visible thanks to the internet and racism’s general slide BACK into acceptability after a very very very brief period where it was slightly frowned upon that is, I think, the very point of this article.
My feel is if you want to find even a small example of an American moment even remotely built on an ethics of care / ie the idea of a society that is shared and should serve the masses rather than the oligarchs you’d have to look at FDR/new deal era, but given segregation I’d find that unpalatable too.
I think you’re misreading my point in mentioning 9/11. I’m not saying the response was good and Muslims are a footnote at all. I’m saying that’s the last time I can remember most of the country even pretending like we had anything in common. If that same event happened now people would respond differently. I reiterate over and over that what we are seeing now is who we always were, just more explicit.
I actually don’t think misread - as I already wrote in my original comment I understood the general point you reiterate here. Hence why I found the 9/11 line a weird departure from the rest of the article. I am just pointing out that if there was any shared project then it was EXPLICITLY racist so it seems a bad example here - it detracts rather than helps an otherwise good argument. (Also if we got into the weeds I’d argue that the shared project was a nostalgia for something that never existed and there were SO MANY, not just Muslims, who literally responded with a “Not In My Name” campaign, ykwim?)
So much of this could be resolved by giving everyone the opportunity get a good, fulfilling job with good pay. Then everyone would be too busy getting a life rather than spending all their time incelling. I think unions would do the trick.
This country was founded upon genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, built by slavery, and has been sustained by warfare and crimes against humanity for generations. It honestly may have been foolish of us to ever believe that any sort of genuine society could emerge from such a truly horrifying and depraved foundation. You make an incredibly strong and compelling case in this piece for why "the only option we have left is to burn it down and salt the earth and bring something else into existence." How does on construct a positive society with openly and viscerally hateful and racist individuals? How does anyone feel safe walking amongst those who don't have problems with genocide, ethnic cleansing, or apartheid? How do people bring themselves to no longer see others as human beings - deserving of nothing but violence and ostracizing? It's a difficult truth to contend and grapple with, but it's one that folks must start engaging. As you perfectly put it:
"We do not live in a society, if we ever did. There is simply no collective vision or mutual cooperation."
I believe in small pockets is where we find a collective vision for mutual cooperation, but those small pockets will only ever be capable of so much when the societal and economic structure pushes back at every step of the way. The history of working people's movements is littered with unions taking one step forward while being pushed several steps back - often times violently. That's not a bug, but a feature of the very repressive system we're desperately seeking to rid ourselves of. Humans are social creatures - we were never meant to trap ourselves in "that rugged individualism" being defined as "the American way." There's so much more that we the people can be and do, but it's only possible if we do it together. To hell with the idea of only working to better myself - I want to work towards building a world that allows us all to be the best versions of ourselves, together.
Thank you for another thought-provoking and incredibly well-articulated piece, as always Scarlet!
Well put, i especially appreciate that many of these people aren't part of any society i want to join, and your focus on systems instead of people. I think you correctly identify the billionaire corporations and media empires, some individuals running government.
I would urge you to go a step further down the rabbit hole of banks, central banks, and how money is created. Bezos and Elon bought Washington Post and Twitter; their bankers might have gone bankrupt after the '08 crisis if they weren't saved and bad bets forgiven.
I don't know a better way to help solve the problem than making war more expensive; i cannot come up with a way to do that better than saving in BTC and, to the best of my ability, be a minimalist, waste less, buy less, and avoid supporting businesses involved in genocide.
I shared this gaurdian article yesterday, where @bigblackjacobin argues that we were a barbaric apartheid for most of our history and have only managed a pluralistic democracy a few decades now, it won’t be hard to just go back https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/curtis-yarvin-harvard
I absolutely agree with what you're saying here especially about a corrupt system with the 2 guardians of capitalism racing us to the bottom while forcing a narative about how this is democracy. I've been watching this for decades, wondering about how bad will it get, and what will actually spark a revolution or civil war or whatever it ends up being that burns it all to the ground? The thing I have a problem visualizing is how does a group of like minded people who really do want a worthwhile society that takes care of itself find like minded people to build when everything is burnt to the ground?
Very insightful as always, but I might disagree with you a little about Covid. Across society it was fragmenting as you say, but within some societies it gave us a crucial opportunity to build community and see what real community could & should be. We had a very successful Mutual Aid program in my little city and I've read about Mutual Aid initiatives in NYC that operated block by block. David Graeber wrote about this aspect shortly before his death: https://mirror.anarhija.net/usa.anarchistlibraries.net/mirror/d/dg/david-graeber-after-the-pandemic-we-can-t-go-back-to-sleep.a4.pdf
I agree with this. I think Covid lockdown and 9/11 are analogues in that certain connections were made and certain communities and identities were strengthened, while simultaneously other communities were ignored, excluded, and harmed. It’s extremely disquieting to read the idea that some kind of “national identity” or belonging or shared project of humanity came out of 9/11. As far as I can see if any national / societal connections and identities/shared purpose were built or felt in the U.S. they were explicitly at the expense of Muslims/anyone perceived as Muslim or Arab adjacent - which of course predated 9/11, as has been explicitly documented from the 19th century on (ie orientalism, like anti Blackness is a foundational paradigm of the U.S./West/colonial and neocolonial project). Muslims are not just a footnote so to say (except Muslims of course) seems to be a bit antithetical to the spirit of the rest of the article. Dehumanization is dehumanization is dehumanization, and plenty of people in the wake of 9/11 were celebrated for berating and harming Muslims as this white woman calling a Black child a slur now. It’s just slightly more visible thanks to the internet and racism’s general slide BACK into acceptability after a very very very brief period where it was slightly frowned upon that is, I think, the very point of this article.
My feel is if you want to find even a small example of an American moment even remotely built on an ethics of care / ie the idea of a society that is shared and should serve the masses rather than the oligarchs you’d have to look at FDR/new deal era, but given segregation I’d find that unpalatable too.
I think you’re misreading my point in mentioning 9/11. I’m not saying the response was good and Muslims are a footnote at all. I’m saying that’s the last time I can remember most of the country even pretending like we had anything in common. If that same event happened now people would respond differently. I reiterate over and over that what we are seeing now is who we always were, just more explicit.
I actually don’t think misread - as I already wrote in my original comment I understood the general point you reiterate here. Hence why I found the 9/11 line a weird departure from the rest of the article. I am just pointing out that if there was any shared project then it was EXPLICITLY racist so it seems a bad example here - it detracts rather than helps an otherwise good argument. (Also if we got into the weeds I’d argue that the shared project was a nostalgia for something that never existed and there were SO MANY, not just Muslims, who literally responded with a “Not In My Name” campaign, ykwim?)
So much of this could be resolved by giving everyone the opportunity get a good, fulfilling job with good pay. Then everyone would be too busy getting a life rather than spending all their time incelling. I think unions would do the trick.
Eloquent and persuasive.
This article is a poignant reminder of how fragmented American society truly is. I too think American society is largely exploitative and murderous.
This country was founded upon genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid, built by slavery, and has been sustained by warfare and crimes against humanity for generations. It honestly may have been foolish of us to ever believe that any sort of genuine society could emerge from such a truly horrifying and depraved foundation. You make an incredibly strong and compelling case in this piece for why "the only option we have left is to burn it down and salt the earth and bring something else into existence." How does on construct a positive society with openly and viscerally hateful and racist individuals? How does anyone feel safe walking amongst those who don't have problems with genocide, ethnic cleansing, or apartheid? How do people bring themselves to no longer see others as human beings - deserving of nothing but violence and ostracizing? It's a difficult truth to contend and grapple with, but it's one that folks must start engaging. As you perfectly put it:
"We do not live in a society, if we ever did. There is simply no collective vision or mutual cooperation."
I believe in small pockets is where we find a collective vision for mutual cooperation, but those small pockets will only ever be capable of so much when the societal and economic structure pushes back at every step of the way. The history of working people's movements is littered with unions taking one step forward while being pushed several steps back - often times violently. That's not a bug, but a feature of the very repressive system we're desperately seeking to rid ourselves of. Humans are social creatures - we were never meant to trap ourselves in "that rugged individualism" being defined as "the American way." There's so much more that we the people can be and do, but it's only possible if we do it together. To hell with the idea of only working to better myself - I want to work towards building a world that allows us all to be the best versions of ourselves, together.
Thank you for another thought-provoking and incredibly well-articulated piece, as always Scarlet!
We’ve reached the logical endpoint of allowing the south to win reconstruction
Well put, i especially appreciate that many of these people aren't part of any society i want to join, and your focus on systems instead of people. I think you correctly identify the billionaire corporations and media empires, some individuals running government.
I would urge you to go a step further down the rabbit hole of banks, central banks, and how money is created. Bezos and Elon bought Washington Post and Twitter; their bankers might have gone bankrupt after the '08 crisis if they weren't saved and bad bets forgiven.
I don't know a better way to help solve the problem than making war more expensive; i cannot come up with a way to do that better than saving in BTC and, to the best of my ability, be a minimalist, waste less, buy less, and avoid supporting businesses involved in genocide.
thanks for the great read, as always.
I shared this gaurdian article yesterday, where @bigblackjacobin argues that we were a barbaric apartheid for most of our history and have only managed a pluralistic democracy a few decades now, it won’t be hard to just go back https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/02/curtis-yarvin-harvard
DEI will come back with a vengeance baby 😎
I absolutely agree with what you're saying here especially about a corrupt system with the 2 guardians of capitalism racing us to the bottom while forcing a narative about how this is democracy. I've been watching this for decades, wondering about how bad will it get, and what will actually spark a revolution or civil war or whatever it ends up being that burns it all to the ground? The thing I have a problem visualizing is how does a group of like minded people who really do want a worthwhile society that takes care of itself find like minded people to build when everything is burnt to the ground?