'Whose Side Are You On?'
'Whose Side Are You On?'
If You Oppose the Elites, You Must Support the Populists ... Right? ... Wrong!
People ask me if I’m a populist, because I’m against the elites. And I say “No,” because I’m also against the common people. I’m against everybody who’s doing lazy ethics and lazy thinking and trying to enforce it on other people.
I said those lines toward the end of an interview with “The Bad Roman Podcast,” published Dec. 7, 2023 (listen to the full episode on Spotify, PodBean, YouTube, and The Bad Roman Project website).
The host, Craig Harguess, asked me to expand upon several passages from my book. More than once, we talked about the similarities between the common people of Jesus’ time and the common people of the present day, regarding their fundamental support of government. Sure, many might seem to be anti-government, but look more closely and you’ll see they merely want different people to be in charge of the government functions.
This presents a bit of awkwardness for those of us who are actually, genuinely against government, not merely against some of its particular functions and/or officials.
It reminds me of this point from my very first Substack article:
Anarchism is against the official State or government or whatever other term you’d like to use for a coercive civil authority, a monopoly-violence institution, an imposed hierarchy of social order. But that’s not all that anarchism opposes. Revolutionaries who seek to replace the current institutional regime with their own favorite agents and agencies, individuals or mobs acting out vigilante fantasies, and any other attempts to impose might-makes-right order also run afoul of anarchism.
“No rulers” also means “no wannabe rulers.”
Populists often think I’m on their “side,” because we each oppose the people at the top of the monopoly-violence hierarchy — whether officials or their cronies — who direct the evil of government. But I’m also against seeking a political savior to fight for “the common people.”
Really, I’m against the whole “savior” complex.
But, wait a minute, Dom! Aren’t you a Christian? Don’t you believe in a savior?
Yes, and no.
Not that kind of savior (not even close!) . . .
There’s an exchange between Jesus and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, in which Pilate asks Jesus if He’s the “king of the Jews” (Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, John 18:33). Jesus tells Pilate, essentially, “You say so.” Jesus isn’t being evasive; He’s challenging the human notion of a king and the attempt to force Him into the traditional framework of earthly rulership.
And while it’s unsurprising that elites would exalt the regime, so do many of the subordinate people. Lots of commonfolk Israelites readily cheer Pilate, his enforcers, and his allies among the Israelite civil authorities.
Populists, then and now, still believe in the organized violence of government as a tool for achieving their goals. They still believe in a political savior (in the contemporary U.S., it’s Trump, Sanders, RFK Jr., etc.).
I believe in no such thing.
The populist savior remains committed to the imposed, hierarchical social order.
My Savior undermines imposed, hierarchical social order.
The populist savior promises to maintain legalistic control.
My Savior brings good chaos.
The populist savior epitomizes some flavor of the Good Citizen.
My Savior is a Good Neighbor, but a Bad Citizen.
The TL;DR answer to the question posed in the headline
Whenever I’m asked, “Whose side are you on?” the short, to-the-point answer is: “Not yours.”
I advocate for no version — neither yours, nor theirs, nor anyone else’s — of coercive civil authority; of monopoly-violence institution; of imposed, hierarchical social order; of might-makes-right ethics.
Find someone/something smarter and better to believe in (I recommend a certain troublemaking, anarchist Good Neighbor).
* * *
Some housekeeping for the book and blog …
The Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen book is now available at three online retailers:
Amazon (paperback & Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (paperback & Nook)
Lulu (paperback).
Thanks to all the readers! If you'd like to help others find the book, please leave a review on your platform of purchase. Online engagement helps boost the book in the algorithms.
And let me know your thoughts here in the Comments section. As always, I appreciate all who’ve subscribed and all who’ve re-posted my articles. I wholly encourage sharing links to the blog and the book with whomever you think could use a dose of anarchism, a dose of Jesus-centered reflections, or both!
“Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.”
This is excellent!