Most extreme right-wingers view Trump as the ideal instrument to burn it down; his anger and narcissism, which are liabilities to most politicians, to them are guarantees that he will stop at nothing to destroy American liberal democracy in his and their interest. Let’s assume they’re right. What happens next? What is the reactionary scheme for America after liberal democracy is dead?
As far as I can tell, there are three separate visions:
- RETURN OF THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION: This is the essence of the “national divorce” recommended by MTG. I discussed the logical and practical issues with it in a previous series, but it has the advantages of being grounded in American history and leaving the blue states more or less alone.
- RULE OF THE TECH BROS: Musk and Thiel have allied themselves with reactionaries in the hope of sweeping away regulations and giving themselves complete freedom to do whatever they want. It is a bargain that is likely to end badly for them, given the nature of the people on the other side of the deal, but they call themselves geniuses, so what do I know?
- NATIONAL THEOCRACY: Christians will regain the absolute right to govern America as they see fit. We will have a 21st century Test Act and lots of new federal statutes discriminating against non-Christians; the First Amendment as we have known it will cease to exist. The Catholic reactionary leaders of the movement would probably prefer to exclude evangelicals from the ruling class (see a future post), but that will prove impossible, so they will continue their alliance of convenience until an opportunity to break it presents itself.
Which of these visions is the most plausible? I would have to vote for #1.