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Pluralistic: A fascist paradigm (12 May 2026)


Today's links


A king on a sumptuous, much elaborated throne; in one hand he holds a sceptre of office, in the other, the leashes for two fierce stone dogs that guard the throne. The king's head has been replaced with a character who was used as the basis for MAD Magazine's Alfred E Neumann. The new head sports a conical dunce cap. Behind the king is a UK Reform Party rosette. The background is an Egyptian temple, ganked from a Dore Old Testament engraving. The floor has been carpeted in sumptuous tabriz from the Ottoman court.

A fascist paradigm (permalink)

Yesterday, I attended a workshop on systems thinking and political change, which included a presentation on the work of Donella Meadows, whose Thinking in Systems is a canonical work on the subject:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking_In_Systems:_A_Primer

"Systems thinking" is an analytical framework that treats the world as a mesh of interconnected, nonlinear components and relationships that can't be easily understood or steered. A complex system isn't merely "complicated." A mechanical watch is complicated, in that it has many parts that work together in ways that require training and specialized knowledge to understand. But it isn't "complex" because each part has a specific function that can be understood and adjusted.

In a complex system – say, an ecosystem – the parts are meshed in a web of unobvious relationships that make it difficult to predict what effect will follow from a given perturbation. When a blight kills off a plant species, the soil stability declines, resulting in landslides during the rainy season, changing the mineral content of nearby waterways, which creates microbial blooms or fish die-offs in a distant, downstream lake.

A slide showing a lever weighted down on one end by a circle labeled 'System' next to a fulcrum; the points along the lever are labeled with different potential interventions that can move the system, taken from the work of Donella Meadows.

But systems thinking isn't a counsel of despair that insists that you shouldn't do anything because you can never predict what will come of your actions. In Thinking in Systems, Meadows presents a hierarchy of leverage points for changing a system, ranked from least effective ("Constants, numbers, parameters") to most ("The power to shift paradigms to deal with new challenges"):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/55264856861/

In all, Meadows theorizes 12 different "places to intervene in a system." The least effective of these – constants like taxes and standards, negative and positive feedback loops – are the sites of most of our political fights, and rightly so. They are the fine-tuning knobs of the system that adjust its margins. Once you have the rule of law ("the rules of the system"), you can drive change by amending, repealing or passing a law:

https://donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/

But when you're confronted with a system that is significantly, persistently dysfunctional, you will likely have to work at sites that are further up the hierarchy, such as "the distribution of power over the rules of the system" or "the goals of the system"; or the most profound of all, "the paradigm out of which the system — its goals, power structure, rules, its culture — arises."

Thinking about paradigms is a form of "meta-cognition," which is to say, "thinking about how you think." Your paradigm encompasses all your assumptions, including your assumptions about how to proceed from your other assumptions: "if x, then y" is a paradigm.

The workshop where we were discussing all of this is part of a group whose goal is reversing the antidemocratic movement in our society and the climate emergency that is its backdrop. But as I listened to the speaker and the ensuing discussion, it occurred to me that Meadows' theoretical work was a very good way of describing the successes of the fascist movement in the UK and around the world.

Fascists like Farage and Trump are, at their root, anti-democratic. Their pitch is that the people are incapable of self-determination (as Peter Thiel puts it, "democracy is incompatible with freedom"). They want us to think that all our neighbors are irrational and foolish, and that we, too, are irrational and foolish, and that our safety and prosperity can only be safeguarded if we seek out those few people who are born to rule and liberate them from the petty niceties and regulations that democracy and the rule of law demand.

In other words, the paradigm of democracy is that all of us are capable of both wise self-governance and self-rationalized misgovernance, and each of us has a useful perspective to contribute. The fascist paradigm is that we can't be trusted to rule ourselves, and only the people who are born with "good blood" are capable of directing our lives:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/20/big-cornflakes-energy/#caliper-pilled

This is the theory behind "race realism" and "human diversity" and all the other polite names the modern fascist uses to obscure the fact that they're reviving eugenics. It explains the panic over DEI, a panic driven by the belief that lesser people are being elevated to positions of rule and authority that they are genetically incapable of carrying out.

That's why, whenever a disaster arises, fascists demand to know the gender, race and sexual orientation of the pilot, the ship's captain, or the official in charge. If the person who crashed the cargo ship into the bridge has brown skin, we can add another line to the ledger of costs associated with the doomed project to put people who were born to be bossed around in the boss's seat (of course, if the pilot turns out to be a white guy, that proves nothing, except that mistakes sometimes happen).

The revival of fascism in this century has been scarily effective, and at times it can feel unstoppable. Meadows' work on systems thinking provides an explanation for that efficacy – and suggests a theory of change for dispatching fascism back to the graveyard of history. Fascists have made changes to things like laws and feedback loops, rules and distribution of power, but this all stems from a more profound alteration to the system, at the level of the paradigm.

Which suggests that the real fight we have is over that paradigm: we have to convince our neighbors that they are smart enough to rule themselves, and so are we, and so is everyone else. We have to convince them that even the smartest and wisest person (including us, including them) is capable of folly and needs to have checks on their (our) authority.

We need to attack the theory of the "unitary executive" and every other autocratic ideology head on. We have to insist that these aren't just unconstitutional, but that they are ideologically catastrophic. "No kings," because even an omnibenevolent king isn't omniscient, and that means that omnipotence is always omnidestructive in the long run.

The fascist revival has been scarily effective and resilient – and systems thinking offers an explanation for both that efficacy and that resiliency.

Hey look at this (permalink)


A shelf of leatherbound history books with a gilt-stamped series title, 'The World's Famous Events.'

Object permanence (permalink)

#25yrsago First aid for the dying dotcom http://modernhumorist.com/mh/0010/dotcom/

#20yrsago OpenStreetMap maps Isle of Wight, Manchester next https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapchester_Mapping_Party_2006

#20yrsago Fueling model rockets with Oreo fillings https://web.archive.org/web/20060616192646/https://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/600152d7d441b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

#20yrsago Legal guide for podcasters https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/Welcome_To_The_Podcasting_Legal_Guide

#20yrsago Collection of 1100+ found grocery lists https://grocerylists.org/

#10yrsago Mayor of Jackson, MS: “I believe we can pray potholes away” https://www.wjtv.com/news/jackson-mayor-tony-yarber-we-can-pray-potholes-away/

#10yrsago What’s the best way to distribute numbers on the faces of a D120? https://web.archive.org/web/20160510182023/https://www.wired.com/2016/05/mathematical-challenge-of-designing-the-worlds-most-complex-120-sided-dice/

#10yrsago Billionaire Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel will be a California Trump delegate https://web.archive.org/web/20160510155226/https://www.wired.com/2016/05/investor-peter-thiel-will-california-delegate-trump/

#10yrsago McClatchy newspapers’ CEO pleased to announce that he’s shipping IT jobs overseas https://web.archive.org/web/20160510102956/https://www.computerworld.com/article/3067304/it-careers/newspaper-chain-sending-it-jobs-overseas.html

#10yrsago Peace in Our Time: how publishers, libraries and writers could work together https://locusmag.com/feature/cory-doctorow-peace-in-our-time/

#10yrsago Too Like the Lightning: intricate worldbuilding, brilliant speculation, gripping storytelling https://memex.craphound.com/2016/05/10/too-like-the-lightning-intricate-worldbuilding-brilliant-speculation-gripping-storytelling/

#5yrsago LA traveling toward free public transit https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/10/comrade-ustr/#get-on-the-bus

#5yrsago Biden's shift on vaccine patents is a Big Deal https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/10/comrade-ustr/#vaccine-diplomacy

Upcoming appearances (permalink)

A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, pounding the podium.


A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast.

Recent appearances (permalink)


A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers..

Latest books (permalink)


A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo.

Upcoming books (permalink)

  • "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/)

  • "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026

  • "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027

  • "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, April 20, 2027

  • "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027


Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources:

Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America. Third draft completed. Submitted to editor.

  • "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE.

  • "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING.

  • A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING

This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution.

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"When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla

READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.

ISSN: 3066-764X

2026-05-12 07:22:17

Wel.nl

Minder lezen, Meer weten.

Douglas heeft last van prijsbewuste consumenten en onzekerheid

DÜSSELDORF (ANP) - Douglas had het afgelopen kwartaal last van consumenten die beter op de prijs letten. De cosmetica- en parfumerieketen boekte mede daardoor minder winst. Wel steeg de omzet van de Duitse keten licht, vooral dankzij de verkoop van exclusieve merken.

"Geopolitieke onzekerheden, stijgende inflatie en een aanzienlijke toename van energiekosten leidden tot het laagste consumentenvertrouwen in de eurozone sinds eind 2022 en een steeds selectiever bestedingsgedrag", licht de Nederlandse topman van Douglas, Sander van der Laan, toe bij de kwartaalresultaten. Door de ontwikkelingen daalde de aangepaste winst voor aftrek van onder meer belastingen in het tweede kwartaal van het gebroken boekjaar naar 116,1 miljoen euro, 5,1 procent lager dan in hetzelfde kwartaal een jaar eerder.

De omzet steeg met 1,1 procent tot 949,7 miljoen euro. Douglas stelt dat exclusieve en eigen merken bijna 15 procent van de omzet opleverden. Het afgelopen kwartaal begon Douglas met de verkoop van het parfummerk Orebella van model Bella Hadid.


2026-05-12 07:22:03

The Guardian

Latest news, sport, business, comment, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

Gaborone gold rush: how Botswana rose to the top of men’s sprinting

Country with a population of just 2.5m credits investment in young athletes for its rise but this progress is under threat

It was a fairytale ending to the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone. In the final strait, Collen Kebinatshipi surged past South Africa’s Zakithi Nene to win the men’s 4x400m relay for Botswana. The home crowd, a sea of light blue, went wild.

“It means so many things to us,” Letsile Tebogo, 22, the reigning 200m Olympic champion, who ran the second leg, told reporters afterwards. “Not just the team … but for the people that always cheer for us behind the TV. Now they had that experience to see first-hand how much effort, how much pressure, how much we give for them.”

Continue reading...
2026-05-12 07:17:30

Minister says Starmer is ‘listening’ but refuses to say if PM will stay on ahead of critical cabinet meeting – UK politics live

Darren Jones says the prime minister is ‘listening to colleagues’, and does not rule out PM announcing resignation timetable

Tomorrow King Charles is coming to parliament to deliver the king’s speech at the state opening of parliament. It is the event that marks the start of a new session of parliament (lasting about a year, normally), and the speech sets out all the bills the government is planning to pass.

The king delivers the speech on behalf of what he describes as “my government”. The speech does not normally mention the PM by name, but it is delivered on the assumption that the PM (who has to listen to the speech standing with other MPs near the entrance to the Lords chamber, and who has to give a speech defending it in the Commons later) will remain in office to implement it.

As far as I’m aware, the king’s speech is going ahead tomorrow.

We’ve been working very hard to bring together a programme of bills for the next session that meet the challenges that we face as a country and it’s important that we get on with that work.

- Crunch cabinet this morning. Will be first time Streeting will see PM.

- leading soft left figures been trying to ‘stop people losing their heads so we can have a less fraught response’ but one admitted late last night ‘it feels like it’s unstoppable now though’

Continue reading...
2026-05-12 07:09:16

Buyers of Liza Minnelli memoir claim it was not signed by hand

Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identical

Liza Minnelli fans who bought signed copies of her memoir are seeking refunds because they believe her signature is fake.

Copies of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by the American 80-year-old singer were marketed around the world as “hand-signed collectibles”, with premium editions costing up to $250 (£185).

Continue reading...
2026-05-12 07:00:18

Too many of us were traumatised by sport at school – but it’s never too late to change | Cath Bishop

A recent study showed millions are put off by early experiences of physical education. But sport can bring camaraderie and joy

There is a disconnect between the proliferation of reports recommending we should be more active and actual levels of activity, that are scarcely budging. Sports councils, health bodies, charities and thinktanks are piling up the evidence that sport and physical activity help us live healthier, happier lives, improve academic attainment at school and productivity at work, connect our communities and help prevent crime and reoffending. Why can’t we turn this into reality?

Reports often call for better coordination, including the recent House of Commons inquiry Game On: Community and School Sport. But sport and physical activity remains poorly linked among schools, sports clubs, community organisations, parks and playgrounds. In an era of superintelligence and rockets flying around the moon, surely we could do better?

Continue reading...
2026-05-12 07:00:17

Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI

Tim Cook and Elon Musk, among other tech CEOS, will accompany the US president on a trip to China

Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.

On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.

Continue reading...
2026-05-12 07:00:17

Rijnmond - Nieuws

Het laatste nieuws van vandaag over Rotterdam, Feyenoord, het verkeer en het weer in de regio Rijnmond

Tunnel dicht na ongeluk met vrachtwagen en meerdere auto's

In de Ketheltunnel bij Schiedam is een ongeluk gebeurd. De tunnel richting Den Haag is dicht. Op de A4 en A20 staan lange files.
2026-05-12 07:01:34

Geenstijl Atom Feed

Het kan wél: vertrouwen in politiek en Tweede Kamer op laagste punt sinds begin meting CBS

Er is ook goed nieuws: sinds het CBS het in 2012 begon te meten was het vertrouwen in de Tweede Kamer niet zo laag als nu. Ook het vertrouwen in 'politici' is op zijn allerlaagst. Nou worden er vandaag allerlei experts, waar de mensen moe van zijn, voor diverse camera's getrokken om te vertellen wat een zorgelijke ontwikkeling we hier bij de kladden. Terwijl: dit is helemaal geen slecht nieuws. Als er een groep mensen is die eens in de vier drie twee jaar allerlei volslagen onhaalbare beloftes doet zoals '10 steden bouwen', 'Grenzen dicht' of 'Toch maar weer VVD', waar iedere keer helemaal niets van terechtkomt, dan is het juist goed dat de burger die mensen niet meer vertrouwt. Het kan natuurlijk, dat er binnenkort opeens een ontzettend betrouwbare generatie politici opstaat die het bier gratis maakt, de azc's omturnt tot een soort tempels van harmonie en levensvreugde en alle georganiseerde misdadigers spontaan doet besluiten zich alleen nog maar toe te leggen op rapmuziek, maar de kans is groter van niet. Tot die tijd lijkt het ons zeer verstandig als het vertrouwen van de burger correspondeert met de betrouwbaarheid van politici. 100% vertrouwen in politici hebben past bij Noord-Korea, niet bij Nederland. We are very smart people, you know. Nog wat bonus-statistiekjes na de breek.

Vertrouwen het hoogst in: gemeenteraad

WTF. De gemeenteraad van Amsterdam zeker. Of die van Gorinchem.

Regionale verschillen

Niet geheel verrassend: het vertrouwen in de elite is het grootst in de regio's waar de elite zelf woont. Den Haag (politieke elite), Het Gooi (media-elite), Leiden (academische elite) en Zuid-West-Overijssel scoren het hoogst. Wacht even. Zuid-West-Overijssel? Oh wacht. Daar woont Eus!

Vertrouwen het hoogst bij: jongeren

Vette pech voor alle nitwits die dit soort nieuws willen misbruiken om 'burgerschapsprogramma's' aan het onderwijs te slijten. Jongeren hebben juist het meeste vertrouwen in instituties. Naïef, wel.

2026-05-12 07:01:15

Beautiful Japan Pool

20260413 Oigawa Railway 7

BONGURI has added a photo to the pool:

20260413 Oigawa Railway 7

抜里駅すぐ近くの茶畑に設置されている、ヒデミニシダさんの「ちゃばらのカーテン」というアート作品。
Photo taken at Nukuri station, Shimada city, Shizuoka pref.

2026-05-12 06:59:32