The narcissistic far right is on display
They have clear ideas and do not hide. On the contrary: the shameless display of their ideology is an essential part. The message has also become the essence. It is about proudly reducing the administration, slimming it down considerably. And doing so without too much consideration for those who may be harmed, thousands of citizens who may even have voted for them. The contradictory chaos is fabulous.
Washington is hosting the summit of the extreme right these days, with Donald Trump as host and a queue of guests, among whom narcissism wins by a landslide. The Argentine Milei, champion of extravagance and dialectical harshness, has given a chainsaw to Elon Musk, who has shown it in public with pride and as a diversion. It is the symbol of the cuts in the public sector and the anti-statism of that capitalism that calls itself libertarian. A freedom to dismantle the laws that regulate the market, to do without social assistance, to facilitate business, especially for the super-rich in power; but also dubious businesses such as the cryptocurrency fraud that has had the support of the Argentine president.
Deconstructing democracy from within by decree and chainsaw has become action and propaganda, all at the same time. It is about governing against institutions with a thick rhetoric of spectacular words and gestures, supposedly fun. In this show, facts and data are neglected. What matters less is creating a climate of adherence to this far-right revolution that is uniting exacerbated nationalists from different parts of the planet in an authoritarian crusade.
The attack on the rule of law is now a fact and a spectacle. And, although it is difficult to understand from the defense of the classic values of liberty, equality and fraternity, many people applaud this destructive drift. It is worth asking why and responding with credible, realistic, plausible proposals and speeches. For the moment, the radical ultra wave continues to make a dent in public opinion at the expense of coexistence and social cohesion, also at the expense of multilateralism and diplomacy. The world today is more insecure and unpredictable.
How far will the dismantling of democracy go? The welfare state in Europe could have its days numbered if the extreme right continues to grow. In the United States, where it was weakest, it is now in the spotlight. The meeting in Washington confirms that the programme is global. Abascal (Vox) has come with loudspeakers at his service. And in Catalonia we have an Aliança Catalana that no longer bothers to mark ideological distances with Vox: it recognises that if Abascal's people accepted Catalan identity, they would otherwise understand each other.
This impudence is also occurring in the cradle of Nazism, a Germany in which Alice Weidel's neo-Nazi party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), could be in second place this Sunday and prevent a coalition of social democrats and Christian democrats from forming. Difficult times are coming to defend democracy and coexistence. What sells now is fury.