Trumpian and Muskian Futurism
Discussion
Ralph Leonard:
"Part of why there has been a multi-decade crisis of liberal democracy is that there is no longer a common future we believe we are moving towards. Political questions are treated as merely technical, rather than going to the root of how society is organized, evacuating politics of substance and meaning.
Many contemporary progressives, ironically, see little hope for progress and are filled with fear at what the future holds. They see only looming catastrophes—climate breakdown, pandemics, and the like—and view their role as preventing these through “degrowth.” Liberal technocrats relate to the future as something to calculate and manage: Adjust this, stabilize that, look at what GDP forecasts say, set these decarbonization goals, and so on.
It is hardly surprising that these approaches struggle to compete with Trumpian futurism, as alienating as the latter is to many people. Technocratic liberalism doesn’t offer citizens a sense of being part of a collective endeavor, of standing for something in common. Left-wing catastrophism attempts to inspire people to action by telling them that aspirations must be curtailed in the interests of simple survival rather than flourishing.
The power behind Trumpian and Muskian futurism lies in its unconscious attachment to ideas of bourgeois progress, technological advancement, development, and historical open-endedness. It stands in contrast to the view that the future is already determined, something merely to be managed while hoping to dodge the worst-case scenario. At its core is a rational kernel: the conviction that the limits of human potential haven’t been exhausted.
To name one example, Elon Musk’s ambitions to advance space exploration and eventually colonize Mars may seem quixotic, based as they are on his long-held assumption that humanity needs a “Plan B” in case Earth becomes uninhabitable. But if such efforts do succeed, the resulting social transformation would be profound—perhaps the most significant since the colonization of the Americas and the industrial revolution. Further extending humanity’s dominion over nature brings forth all manner of risks, opportunities, and contradictions, but it must be looked at world-historically and not moralistically.
The return of such grand historical vision, whatever its motivation, means untold innovation in the fields of biotechnology and robotics; it means advanced forms of nuclear power and artificial intelligence. Under current arrangements, these will be used for the benefit of capital and the domination of men and women and nature. But under different arrangements, they have incredible potential to extend the scope of humanity’s freedom.
The risk is that MAGA futurism, as one of the few popular futurisms today, offers little more than another capitalist dystopia in utopian guise. However, it’s worth remembering that while the factories and railroads of the 19th century were forged in hellish conditions, socialists still saw in them the seeds of a better future. What is used to oppress and exploit under one set of conditions might, under another, be used to emancipate and empower. But that requires believing in a future worth fighting for."
(https://www.compactmag.com/article/how-trump-stole-the-future-from-the-left/?)