Since Trump began his second term, the world seems to be living in a state of both shock and fascination. We never imagined that, in such a short time, someone could destroy an international order created with such effort, could annihilate respect for the institutions that seemed most solid to us, could demonstrate so clearly that his whim is law. Every day a shock, a surprise, a new attack on coexistence manages to keep us on edge, hanging on Trump's every word.
A winning strategy, certainly, to keep the public captivated, and one that, from my point of view, leads us to make two mistakes: believing that he is a madman and that someone will eventually come along and stop him, and thinking that he is truly omnipotent, and that we must continue to be truly omnipotent, and that we must continue to be truly omnipotent, and that we must continue to be truly omnipotent. Unfortunately, it seems that the European Union is falling into both of these errors; A few days ago there was talk of an incipient rebellion among European leaders, but we'll have to see how far it goes.
I think we're mistaken: behind Trump's unpredictable blows lies a very calculated political design, with a group of extremely powerful people and a rather surprising ideology, what has come to be called "technolibertarianism." The president's outbursts serve to confuse and distract the world, while a new order is being established, which may seem like disorder to us, but is nothing more than "another form of order," that of the new world leaders. A form of order that, in order to exist, must destroy the previous order, because it is a new ruling elite that, as is usually the case, does not accept any previously created limits that oppose its projects and designs.
And this means doing away with states and political parties, and especially with democratic states and parties, which, over many years, have been creating the rules to bring us closer to equality, or at least equality of opportunity, to create equitable services, to limit the power of the strongest. We know this; since the 1980s there has been an offensive against the power of states that is now stronger than ever. Insofar as working for equality always involves building balances, establishing limitations on private will, which can lead to enrichment and the exclusive enjoyment of privileges, technolibertarianism openly declares itself opposed. Democratic states, governments, and parties must be destroyed because, by having to be elected, they still largely express the popular will and constitute a limit to the ambitions of the strongest.
Thus, the privatization of public services, for example, is not merely the product of a desire for enrichment by a few; it is a way to weaken what everyone can access and to discredit the power of states and governments. The worse public services function, the easier it is to convince people that the public sector, which belongs to everyone, cannot work, and that the organization of society must be left in private hands.
That is why it is all the more painful to see how often we all fall into this trap. Governments, the people who hold official positions, deserve no respect. On the contrary, replacing them has become a collective pastime. With any excuse, even an accident, drought, excessive rain, or a sudden pandemic. We don't complain so much when the mistake is made by a private company.
In this sense, it never ceases to amaze me that democratic political parties are so short-sighted. These days we have seen how easily any government action can be disrupted in unforeseen situations. The tendency to exploit a misfortune to throw stones at the adversary, hoping to gain a few votes, is, in my opinion, very short-sighted in the times we live in; the discrediting of democratic governments and parties facilitates their destruction. The disenchantment and alienation of the people from governments contributes to the destruction of the only real instrument we have to continue defending human rights, the right to life, the right to equality, the defense of the vulnerable. All that has been so hard-won.
In an era when states were vehicles of oppression, destroying the state was synonymous with freedom, and anarchism was a left-wing ideology. Curiously, it has shifted to one side: it is still said that destroying the public sphere, destroying the state, is synonymous with freedom, but not freedom to free ourselves from oppression, but rather freedom to oppress the majority. This is a major point of this new order advocated by the technolibertarians, with Trump as their figurehead.
Surveillance, always and continuously, of course! Permanent demands on everyone, public and private. But let's not allow the monster to use us in a matter whose aim is to destroy democracy.
