To Survive This, We Must Break the Fourth Wall
We cannot navigate the current moment using existing political frames or received wisdom.
In normal times, politics pits left against right, and each wins sometimes. But these are not normal times. We're undergoing a full frontal assault on constitutional democracies, and Americans, as usual, are more focused on fighting each other than in breaking down and stopping the assault.
A case in point is the terrible, no-good Continuing Resolution passed by House Republicans, and now under consideration by the Senate. Minority Leader Schumer's announcement that he would support the bill sent Democrats — especially online — into a frenzy of condemnation and threats to primary him in... wait for it... 2028. Bluntly, American democracy will be but a memory if we don't wake up and realize that politics we have known it is already gone.
According to the online chatterati upset with Schumer, a shutdown is desirable because it would halt DOGE and other rampant destruction currently occurring while the lights are on. But this is false. DOGE's wrecking ball will continue unabated — deeming itself essential, as it would — and gaining site and data access across agencies. A shutdown just means no one is there to stop them, and Musk himself has said he prefers a shutdown because it will make DOGE's job easier.
The other claim is that Republicans would be blamed for a shutdown. It's true — the online Democratic chatterati would definitely blame Republicans for a shutdown, and it would feel really good, for a minute. However, Trump's spin machine and Elon's mighty Wurlitzer, X, are already ramping up messaging for the "Schumer Shutdown," a phrase that would surely become ubiquitous, to the point where a majority of Americans — especially those who are harmed most — would blame Democrats for blocking a solution, even a bad one, when one was available. And “blame” is an obsolete construct anyway — implying electoral outcomes are still tied to objective reality. (See #12: Crypto Capture of Elections here.)
Lastly, there is no way to predict what a shutdown in 2025 might actually look like. Because we have never been in this situation before — and no one will admit it. Say it together: “We have never before had two dedicated proxies of hostile foreign powers trying to take down the American system of government while holding it hostage.” There is no past experience that can prepare us for this. The shutdown in 2013 lasted 16 days; the longest shutdown, from December 22, 2018 to February 9, 2019, lasted 35 days.
There is no reason to think a shutdown in 2025 would not be permanent. Musk and his backers, Putin and Xi, desire nothing less than a total reconfiguration of American power. This aids that project. According to reporting from WIRED, up to 850,000 employees would be furloughed in a shutdown scenario. They add, "Ahead of a shutdown, federal employees are effectively classified into essential or nonessential work, with nonessential employees furloughed and not allowed to work until the shutdown ends."
While Trump says he wants the CR, which will ostensibly enable tax cuts and other aspects of his agenda to continue without obstacles, these are, frankly, old-world concerns, and Democrats are being baited into playing old-world games. Tax cuts and other policy initiatives are irrelevant in a failed state — and Musk will continue to work towards this goal, with Trump on a short leash behind him.
The Time of Monsters
There are other reasons the old political paradigm is failing. Since World War II, the United States has been operating within a constructed dialectical framework. Our first-past-the-post, winner-take-all electoral system concentrates power within just two political parties, with no opportunity for coalitions, as in parliamentary systems. Thus, we get exactly two flavors of politician: left and right — and their role is to fight each other.
But as this system of poles ossifies, the paradigm breaks down. Strange alliances become necessary. New commonalities emerge. Cries for "progress" and an end to deadlock drown out bitter rivalries and the received wisdom of elders. The desire for something new overtakes the draw of both “left” and “right.” Youth overpowers experience. We are going through such a moment now — as a product of our own designs and as a result of both internal and external influences that aim to accelerate breakdown.
You may recognize this construct as “Hegelian dialectics,” in which a thesis conflicts with an antithesis, and through dialectical exchange a synthesis emerges. Many understand synthesis as compromise, but Hegel suggests that true synthesis would mark the birth of something entirely new. We are witnessing such a birth now. To quote Antonio Gramsci, “The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.”
One might ask whether the old frame of left vs. right could continue forever, and perhaps in a vacuum, it might. But we do not live in a vacuum. Accelerationism has a posse — whether we are talking about Putin, Xi, Musk, Thiel, Vance, or Neoreactionaries — and like it or not, they are relentlessly pouring resources into breaking down old paradigms and birthing new ones.
Reflexive Control, a Soviet-era system of information warfare which explicitly exploits Hegelian dialectics, has also been deployed against the United States for decades. (This excellent 1986 paper from the Naval Postgraduate School by Diane Chotikul explains it in detail.) And we're now reaching the pointy end of the “synthesis” triangle — the moment of evolution. Leon Trotsky famously said, “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” Hegelian synthesis is what's for dinner. You don't get to decide.
Symptoms are on display everywhere: at Occupy, which was seeded and amplified by both left and right wing activists. In Eurasianism, in which Aleksandr Dugin seeks to export his syncretic Nazi-Bolshevik ideology into democracies. California Governor Gavin Newsom has been interviewing noxious right wing personalities such as Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon in a nauseating bid to “build bridges.”
There is even a burgeoning online movement called “Hegelian e-girls” for young women who wish to study Hegelian synthesis and host “dangerous” events (in Brooklyn, squee!) that combine edgier elements of both left and right.
Schumer did the right thing in trying to block a shutdown. In his words on X, "A shutdown would give Donald Trump the keys to the city, state, and country. Musk has said he wants a shutdown, and reporting has shown he is already making plans to use the shutdown to expedite his destruction of key government programs and services." No argument there.
But Schumer and his political detractors have both missed an opportunity to educate the public about the bigger picture, and the true context of the attack we are undergoing — from outside and from within. This isn't about greed, government contracts, or even tax cuts for the wealthy. This is about taking down the United States government and reordering the world. Perhaps Schumer and his peers believe the American public at large isn't ready for that conversation. Or perhaps more likely, they don't really understand this themselves.
But there are many Democrats (and at least some Republicans) who not only are capable of understanding the truth, but crave the leadership of those who will speak it. Schumer has the opportunity to be such a leader. May he and others seize it.
Americans need the truth about our situation more than ever, and if we don't discuss it honestly, we will not survive this assault. It's well past time to share the intelligence that outlines its true nature. If we are no longer able to do that (and signs suggest that's the case), then perhaps our NATO allies will.
The time for old-world politics is past. It's time to break the fourth wall and talk frankly and in detail about Musk, Trump, Putin, and Xi, and their attack on America. And then we must create a compelling vision for what comes next. A return to the status quo — whatever we imagine that to be — is no longer possible. ■
