In the meantime, we’ll see plenty of monstrosities. Currently onstage are grotesque efforts to pulverize the wreckage of one of the more absurd pieces of the neoliberal camouflage’s prior ‘narrative’ — Biden as ‘sharp-as-tack’ etc. etc., ad nauseum.
This fragile, yet operationally important, part of the narrative was spectacularly disassembled in last year’s debate. But large chunks of its wreckage were still lying around. Such obvious evidence of very consequential trickery might interfere with the formation of the neo-narrative, a process which requires a relatively clean landscape. So, the wreckage itself had to be hit hard with a ‘news-cycle counter-narrative’ that, while temporarily re-drawing attention to the trickery, ultimately results in confusion, fatigue, trivialization, and boredom (e.g., ‘just another media-on-media story’). At that point, likely to be soon, the remaining bits are small enough to stuff down the memory hole.
Such public proactivity about discarded narratives is unusual. Most parts of the old narrative that didn’t inherently concern economic matters — DEI, ESG and the other woke stuff — were simply abandoned, along with their usefully idiotic proponents. Some of these foot soldiers continue the various ‘fights’ (which were always purely camouflage) at a performative level in the daily political circus, but without relevance or real support they’ll all just fade away. Other parts of the old narrative that have continuing economic potential, especially those related to lucrative climate change initiatives, are being quietly re-worked and will be blended into the future neo-narrative. The ongoing economic rents secured under the old narrative are also being quietly solidified and expanded in the old-fashioned, behind-the-scenes neoliberal way, which includes slipping wonky technical provisions into major legislation, as was recently attempted to give carbon pipelines federal eminent domain (that one got caught — how many get through?).
The Biden ‘sharp-as-tack’ narrative, however, was too wrecked to repair yet too dangerous to abandon. The story could expose the full extent and mechanisms of neoliberal political control; its surviving principal actors, with little left to lose and vengeful motives, could confirm the truth in headline-grabbing ways. Like an advanced fighter jet downed behind enemy lines, its own side will immediately send airstrikes to destroy it — and take out the surviving pilots, too.
As noted, a grotesque performance. But it does highlight something which I think might be important — the functionaries who create and maintain the neoliberal camouflage (call them, the ‘narrativators’) are (1) painfully aware of their recent failures, and (2) likely to have learned, and are still learning, a lot. I imagine that in other situations where a ‘narrative’ was central to economic and political control, the product was continuously improved. I’m sure early Soviet apparatchiks made rookie mistakes, too. In their case, the prospect of literally being shot likely concentrated remaining minds wonderfully, and the product improved quite quickly. Our current crew of narrativators don’t face such downsides, but continued employment (even wealth, to a point) and social inclusion (even status, of a sort) are sufficient incentives. Their neoliberal bosses can be vindictive, certainly, but also relatively generous with the loot, at least when there’s plenty to share.