Color drawing of smiling dog leaning on the letters "DOGE," with American flags, and with words "Department of Government Efficiency" arching above.

The DOGE and the neoreactionaries

Matthew N Lyons

While MAGA movement ideology centers on right-wing populism, DOGE’s attack on the administrative state is guided by neoreactionaries, whose ideology glorifies elites and rejects populist appeals in principle. And while the first Trump administration was backed by an unstable coalition of competing capitalist interests, now high technology capitalists closely aligned with neoreactionary politics are at the head of the pro-Trump business bloc. These changes have helped make the second Trump presidency more dangerous than the first, but they also point to potential divisions and conflicts within the Trump coalition.

Antifascist, business and politics, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, neoreaction, tech capitalists


Matthew Lyons comments on Hamerquist and Goff exchange

Don, Your reply to Goff offered a lot of good food for thought, and left me wanting to hear more. I appreciate the way you discuss the Iraq war, the neocons, and the question of …

Anti-capitalism, fascism, Hamerquist, Matthew Lyons, Stan Goff

Continued discourse on article, Debating a Neocon. Hamerquist on dilemmas for Capital and further outlines of the content of the resistance movements.

Three Way Fight

No comments

The following is a response to Stan Goff from D. Hamerquist. Excerpt: “There is a general assumption that recognizing a fascist danger… automatically subordinates the struggle against the capitalist system to an anti-fascist alliance with …

Anti-capitalism, Antifascist, fascism, Hamerquist, neocon, Stan Goff

Continued discourse on article, Debating a Neocon. Goff responds to Hamerquist

Three Way Fight

No comments

by Stan Goff January 13, 2005 I don’t mind being a straight man in effigy as long as the star acknowledges that it is just the effigy’s role. Don Hammerquist goes all the way around …

Anti-capitalism, fascism, Hamerquist, neocon, Stan Goff, war

Responding to Stan Goff’s, Debating a NeoCon

Three Way Fight

No comments

Goff’s positions are refreshing given what is often presented as radical. I agree with him that the war in Iraq is “…symptomatic of a much deeper global crisis”. I agree that the difficulties facing capital …

Anti-capitalism, fascism, Hamerquist, neocon, Stan Goff, war

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Notes on Trump/MAGA 2024

Matthew N Lyons

5 comments

Even more than in the past, Trump and the MAGA movement have brought key elements of fascist politics into the Republican Party, and a second Trump presidency is likely to be significantly more authoritarian than the first one.

Antifascist, Donald Trump, MAGA movement, US presidential elections

Who’s Afraid of Luigi Mangione? A Response to Alexander Reid Ross

3WF

2 comments

Luigi Mangione’s recent alleged killing of an insurance CEO touched a wedge issue that cuts across class and across the political spectrum—the massive corruption of the health insurance industry—and created an opening for the left. A recent article by ex-leftist Alexander Reid Ross, which dismisses Mangione as expressing an American proclivity for violence, represents a counterinsurgency action in defense of the state.

Alexander Reid Ross, Anti-capitalism, counter insurgency, health care, health insurance industry, liberal antifascism, Luigi Mangione

Reading Adam Shatz on the war in Gaza

Three Way Fight

3 comments

by Matthew N. Lyons How do we forcefully make the case to defend the Palestinian people in Gaza against Israel’s increasingly genocidal assault, and also honor the conflict’s heartbreaking contradictions? This is a question I’ve …

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Burn the foundation and all that it upholds: an antifascist review of “Tell Me I’m Worthless” by Alison Rumfitt

Three Way Fight

1 comment

“The House spreads. Its arteries run throughout the country. Its lifeblood flows into Westminster, into Scotland Yard, into every village and every city. It flows into you, and into your mother. It keeps you alive. …

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Review of “Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism”

3WF

No comments

Shane Burley and Ben Lorber offer a thoughtful radical analysis of how antisemitism works, how it fuels supremacist politics more broadly, and how the charge of antisemitism is misused to attack Palestine solidarity and the left. To combat antisemitism they argue for a strategy based on mass mobilization, dialog, and an intersectional critique of oppressions.

Anti-Zionist, Antifascist, antisemitism, Israel


Books

Scroll to see more and click on a book for more information about it and where to buy it.

Paranoia as Aesthetic

By Kristian Williams Antifa had quite a summer: First, jetting around the country, stoking unrest and attacking police in dozens of cities simultaneously; then, moving by tour bus through the countryside to burn and loot

Between system-loyal vigilantism and system-oppositional violence

Guest post by Devin Zane Shaw Editor’s note: Devin Zane Shaw argues here that Donald Trump’s attempt to mobilize far right vigilantism might represent a temporary move to shore up neoliberal hegemony—or it might signal

Nationalism: Left, Right, and Black

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas by Corey Robin (Metropolitan Books, 2019) Review by Kristian Williams Editor’s note: Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court seems a good occasion to consider the political history of

Resisting Trump’s coup

People across the political spectrum—from anarchists to social democrats to neoconservatives—have been warning that Trump may try to sabotage the election to stay in office. This is a realistic and serious danger. A Trump coup

Trump, the far right, and the return of vigilante repression

Trump’s relationship with the far right is just as important in 2020 as it was in 2016, but the character of the relationship has changed dramatically. I’ve been revisiting the articles I wrote about Trump

A constellation of threats: far rightists respond to the Black-led uprising

Guest post by Ben Lorber It’s important to remember that when we talk about the far right, we’re not talking about a single unitary force, but rather a constellation of different actors, organizations and movements

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The DOGE and the neoreactionaries

While MAGA movement ideology centers on right-wing populism, DOGE’s attack on the administrative state is guided by neoreactionaries, whose ideology glorifies elites and rejects populist appeals in principle. And while the first Trump administration was backed by an unstable coalition of competing capitalist interests, now high technology capitalists closely aligned with neoreactionary politics are at the head of the pro-Trump business bloc. These changes have helped make the second Trump presidency more dangerous than the first, but they also point to potential divisions and conflicts within the Trump coalition.

Chaos or Revolution? It Depends on Us

The institutional far right is strong, while the far left is weak and disorganized. To develop the capacity to meaningfully intervene in the current crisis, far leftists need to engage with oppressed communities and work together with liberals in a united front.

Review of Alberto Toscano’s “Late Fascism”

Alberto Toscano’s book offers a helpful overview of antifascist writings with an emphasis on authors loosely associated with Critical Theory. Of particular value is Toscano’s discussion of the role of myth in fascist ideology, which focuses on contributions by Italian scholar Furio Jesi and has relevance for understanding Donald Trump’s speeches and far right online meme culture. Yet Toscano’s discussion of “racial fascism” exaggerates capitalists’ ability to control events, strips both fascists and antifascists of political agency, and reflects an obliviousness to antifascists’ strategic and tactical concerns.

Review of “Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism”

Shane Burley and Ben Lorber offer a thoughtful radical analysis of how antisemitism works, how it fuels supremacist politics more broadly, and how the charge of antisemitism is misused to attack Palestine solidarity and the left. To combat antisemitism they argue for a strategy based on mass mobilization, dialog, and an intersectional critique of oppressions.

Who’s Afraid of Luigi Mangione? A Response to Alexander Reid Ross

Luigi Mangione’s recent alleged killing of an insurance CEO touched a wedge issue that cuts across class and across the political spectrum—the massive corruption of the health insurance industry—and created an opening for the left. A recent article by ex-leftist Alexander Reid Ross, which dismisses Mangione as expressing an American proclivity for violence, represents a counterinsurgency action in defense of the state.