Devolution Inbound
This term's Supreme Court decisions accelerate the hollowing out of the nation-state and mark the end traditional left. Let's dig in.
Devolution Inbound
This year’s US Supreme Court term ended with a bang.
It didn’t just overturn Roe v Wade, handing states the power to set limits on abortions; it handed down an armful of other decisions that devolved power.
It was a turning point in the Court, promising decades of devolution to come, made possible by Trump’s three appointments to the Court.
It was also a victory for the networked right’s (aka the Horde) online maneuver warfare. Trump’s disruptive maneuvers and fast transients (rapidly shifting topics), amplified by social networking, keeping the opposition so off-balanced that it could not mount an effective opposition to his nominations.
The end of the Traditional Left
The networked right’s control over the Supreme court marks the end of the traditional left. Matt Stoller, the anti-monopolist pundit, sums it up nicely:
For 70 years the elite liberal and left types have gone the judicial and law professor route, believing that Congress and legislatures were dirty and stupid. Democrats don’t do work and don’t know any details about the government, which is why they had nothing ready when Roe was overturned. Their policy wonk schtick is all just theater.
This approach assumed that legislating from the bench by creating new national rights, from abortion (1973) to the right to bear arms (2008), was inviolable (never to be reversed).
That isn’t the case anymore, nor was it ever.
Without dictates from the Court, there isn’t a consensus for new unrestricted rights, and most of the support that does exist comes with significant caveats. So, even if there is legislative action on these rights, the result would be full of compromises and limitations.
The Networked Left (the Swarm)
With the end of the traditional left, the only force remaining is the networked left. Let’s dig into the strengths and weaknesses of the networked left (aka the Swarm).