Klein looks calm and curious as she delivers this message. She has a ready laugh. But then, she had the same unruffled, buoyant delivery when I interviewed her on stage in Manchester for Doppelgänger, her 2023 book in which she described how the digital world is destroying our connection to reality, and one another. In 1999, when her breakthrough work No Logo was published, she seemed exhilaratingly certain, at 29, that neoliberalism was bringing harm that we couldn’t yet even see the extent of, and nonetheless appeared centred and happy in the world. Somehow she manages to maintain this attitude, even though the news she delivers is always so convincingly, unbelievably bad.
End Times Fascism describes the world we’re in, where the components of authoritarianism are modelled everywhere you look: anarcho-libertarian economics in Argentina, the destruction of a free press in Russia, the erosion of democratic institutions in Hungary (until Viktor Orbán was deposed), “anti-immigrant neofascism” in Italy, the weaponisation of trans identity by Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Islamophobia in Modi’s India. But this is fascism with a difference. Its proponents are actively willing an apocalypse, or a wave of interconnected apocalypses brought forth by climate change and financial chaos, to hasten us towards a post-democratic world in which only a rich few survive to prosper.
This book started as an article in the Guardian, “which went totally viral,” Klein says. “Astra and I knew there was a lot more reporting to do, but on a personal level, did we want to spend the next year in the minds of these people, in these cultures? Then Astra said, ‘I’m down the rabbit hole, I’m gonna be listening to these guys anyway. So I may as well feel like I’m doing something about it.’ This is the reason it’s the first book I’ve co-written. When you go to dark, scary places, it’s nice to bring a friend.” Astra Taylor is also a writer, activist and documentary maker, and founded the Debt Collective, a fascinating experiment in building structured, quasi-unionised solidarity around personal debt, with the long term goals of abolishing student tuition fees, nationalising healthcare and building tenant power.
Naomi Klein is a badass
What am I educating myself on? This is liberal slop. It is literal anticommunist bullshit. The author is a random inconsequential liberal uninterested in forming coherent criticisms of capitalism. Did I stutter?
Make an argument, not unfounded accusations and ad hominem attacks, if you want to be taken seriously. The proverbial spittle on your chin is distracting.
I made the argument in my original comment. I don’t need to repeat myself.
I fail to see the argument here, are you adresssing the contents of the book? It seems like you are, yet you give no evidence of having read it. Just venom and ambiguity.
Claiming that Klein is not addressing capitalism in her work isn’t doing your credibility any favours.
I do not doubt for even a second that you failed to spot the argument and needed to resort to ye olde strawman. I never said she doesn’t address capitalism. I said her analysis is incoherent. She doesn’t criticize capitalism in a coherent way in any of her books, period. Because she is a liberal.
Having to lie about what someone said to try to win an argument is sad.
Your “arguments” are complaints and ad hominem insults. You aren’t trying to convince anyone with that trollish method.
Saying that her argument is incoherent because she’s a liberal isn’t an argument, it’s echo chamber circular proclamation.
You should read some Gramsci. Dogma will just sink the ship.
Nobody is doing ad-homs, I don’t respect you. I am calling you a fool not to win an argument, but to scold you.
As for the author, in my very first comment I explained the issues with her analysis. Like usual, though, you seem to not want to read what’s right in front of your eyes.
Should I link you the original comment so you can refresh yourself with what you’re so adamantly arguing against?
No you just emphasized your ignorance.
Naomi Klein is a liberal slop generator. Your heroes are pathetic. Read a book that criticizes capitalism written by a Marxist if you want a semblance of what actual leftists think about these topics. Not some progressive liberal clown.
Who do you think you are going to convince that Naomi Klein is liberal slop?
The demographic you are shooting to convince is absurdly narrow.
The fact that you cannot tell the difference between someone like Naomi Klein and someone like Ezra Klein that actually does what you say exposes that either you are pretending to hold a political position you don’t actually and are being sloppy with the details (ding ding ding ding!) or you cannot tell or understand the difference between coalitions of people with different ideologies and groups dominated by gatekeepers who police the window of acceptable debate.
You need to read the script closer if you are going to convincingly act the part, when it is obvious you are mixing up Ezra Klein with Naomi Klein the illusion you are actually a leftist is shattered for us.
What the fuck are you talking about? Stop bringing up random unmentioned people. I am talking about Naomi Klein. Can you at least stay on topic if you’re going to be a smarmy replyguy?
Read this: https://hexbear.net/post/9646594 in case you want to know what actual leftists think of this shitty author. Notice how actual socialists nearly-universally shit on her. A learning moment for you.
That link doesn’t really demonstrate what you say it does.
Burying your head in the sand when faced with direct evidence is certainly one way to handle criticism.
The entire thread is leftists dunking on your beloved liberal, Zionist author. Cope harder.
Try as you might, you can’t dismiss the quality of her work or how lucidly she frames issues with capitalism just because you don’t agree with all of her politics.
There isn’t a whole lot of trying involved here because you’ve assembled such a feeble premise.
You have some fixation with this author. Perhaps she was formative for you. But me calling her liberal slop is not only accurate, it’s charitable.
I’ve just linked you a hexbear thread full of socialists. Your favorite author was panned across the entire thread, but you seem to not care. I could quote each comment in the thread highlighting the various criticisms these socialists have with her work, if that would help? I see easily 10 in-depth analyses criticizing her.
You saw irrefutable evidence that leftists see it my way, and you ignored it because it goes against your preconceived notion that this author isn’t liberal slop. You’re not prepared to argue with materialists.
I could recommend that you study some Marxism so you don’t keep digging yourself into these unwinnable liberal hellholes of idealistic, wishful arguing with no serious interest in reconciliation of thought.
Edit: I thought so.