Totalitarianism has concluded an alliance with irony
Shortly before his death, in the face of his exile from Austria due to the rise of Nazism, Sigmund Freud wrote, “We live in very remarkable times. We find with astonishment that progress has concluded an alliance with barbarism.”Today, we live in remarkable times again, but the nature of those times is somewhat different: We find with astonishment that totalitarianism has concluded an alliance with irony.Proof of this is yet again before us in the form of the recent scandal over British academic Jason Arday, who lied and plagiarized himself to the heights of U.K. academia at Cambridge University, was exposed and then apparently committed suicide.The most shocking aspect of the scandal was not Arday himself. Academia on both sides of the Atlantic has been on a long slide toward total corruption for decades, and the progressive regime that rules it was bound to cough up another disgrace.Nor can academia’s…
The article argues that contemporary totalitarianism has formed an "alliance with irony," making it particularly dangerous. This phenomenon is exemplified by the scandal involving British academic Jason Arday, who fabricated his credentials at Cambridge University. After his exposure and apparent suicide, progressive activists defended him, portraying him as a victim of a racist witch hunt and advocating for legal limits on media coverage of public figures. Journalist Eve Barlow criticized this proposal, stating, "If you’ve ever witnessed a real witch hunt... you would know that ‘Arday’s Law’ would be completely unenforceable." The author contends that this push for censorship, alongside other contradictory alliances (e.g., feminists justifying misogyny, LGBT individuals allying with those who would harm them), highlights a "comically mad" yet sinister trend where annihilationist hate is presented as empathy. The article concludes that while this ironic totalitarianism may appear ludicrous, it should be taken seriously, as it ultimately leads to slaughter and enslavement.
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