Autocracy
Chapter 2 - Society
Previous page: Democracy - Autocracy - Next page: Demographics
Back to Book content or directly to Main Page
.
Welcome to the autocracy page
.
Autocracy, while it is contrasted with democracy, is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship.
(It should be clear that the author of Business Acumen does not endorse autocracy in any of its forms.)
.
Core ideas
.
Currently (2025), an autocratic movement has emerged in the USA.
.
NRx (the neo-reactionary movement)
.
Dark Enlightenment
The neo-reactionary movement, also known as the Dark Enlightenment, believes that democracy is a mistake and that equality is not a desirable goal. Dark Enlightenment critiques modern liberalism and democracy, advocating for hierarchical governance rooted in tradition and technology.
.
Accelerationism
Accelerationism seeks rapid systemic change through intensified capitalism and technology.
.
Deep dive
.
The philosophical inspiration of the neo-reactionary movement
.
David Hume (1711 - 1776)
A Treatise on Human Nature (1739-40): “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.”
.
Friedrich August Hayek (1899 - 1992)
He made fundamental contributions to political theory, psychology, and economics. Hayek was the best-known advocate of what is now called Austrian economics. Economic analysis is universally applicable, and the appropriate unit of analysis is man and his choices. These choices are determined by individual subjective preferences and the margin on which decisions are made. The logic of choice is essential to developing a universally valid economic theory. Many of the ideas of the leading mid-twentieth-century Austrian economists are rooted in the ideas of classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Hume.
His basic argument was that government control of our economic lives amounts to totalitarianism. “Economic control is not merely control of a sector of human life which can be separated from the rest,” he wrote, “it is the control of the means for all our ends.”
.
Dark Enlightenment
At the core of both Dark Enlightenment and accelerationism is a fundamental rejection of Enlightenment values—democracy, equality, and humanism. British philosopher Nick Land, who first articulated the Dark Enlightenment, critiques liberal democracy as a failing system that fosters mediocrity, inefficiency, and social decay. Nick Land and his followers advocate for a return to hierarchical governance, where power is concentrated in the hands of a technological elite rather than dispersed through democratic institutions.
He views democratic and egalitarian policies as only slowing down acceleration and the techno-capital singularity, stating, "Beside the speed machine, or industrial capitalism, there is an ever more perfectly weighted decelerator. Comically, the fabrication of this braking mechanism is proclaimed as progress.
Land argues that democracy, emphasising equality and accountability, impedes technological and social progress, which he believes should be led by an elite few. For Land, democratic values like fairness and equality are outdated obstacles to innovation, and he advocates for a governance model where decision-making authority is concentrated among intellectual and technological elites. His views align closely with Yarvin’s, promoting a society governed by those deemed most capable, with little regard for public input or accountability.
.
Accelerationism
Accelerationism is a political and social theory advocating intensifying capitalist growth, technological development, and systemic change to hasten the collapse of existing structures and pave the way for radical transformation.
The theory builds on the idea that capitalism has inherent contradictions that will eventually lead to its collapse. Accelerationists propose speeding up these processes to reach this endpoint sooner. Nick Land describes acceleration as a "transcendental" force driving humanity toward an "absolute horizon," often associated with the singularity - a point where technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible.
- Right-Wing Accelerationism influenced by thinkers like Nick Land, embraces the destabilizing effects of capitalism and technology to create a new hierarchical or technocratic order
Nick Land takes its cue from Karl Marxː
- But, in general, the protective system of our day is conservative, while the free trade system is destructive. It breaks up old nationalities and pushes the antagonism of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie to the extreme point. In a word, the free trade system hastens the social revolution. It is in this revolutionary sense alone, gentlemen, that I vote in favor of free trade. (Karl Marx, fragment of his 1848 speech "On the Question of Free Trade")
Land has continually praised China's economic policy as accelerationist. He moved to Shanghai and worked as a journalist, writing material characterized as pro-government propaganda. He also spoke highly of Deng Xiaoping and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, calling Lee an "autocratic enabler of freedom."
.
- Left-Wing Accelerationism seeks to leverage technological progress and capitalism's contradictions to transition toward a post-capitalist society, often emphasizing egalitarian outcomes
.
| (fragments of) ACCELERATE MANIFESTO for an Accelerationist Politics - by Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek - 14 May 2013 |
|---|
| 2. Most significant is the breakdown of the planetary climatic system. In time, this threatens the continued existence of the present global human population. Though this is the most critical of the threats which face humanity, a series of lesser but potentially equally destabilising problems exist alongside and intersect with it. Terminal resource depletion, especially in water and energy reserves, offers the prospect of mass starvation, collapsing economic paradigms, and new hot and cold wars. Continued financial crisis has led governments to embrace the paralyzing death spiral policies of austerity, privatisation of social welfare services, mass unemployment, and stagnating wages. Increasing automation in production processes including ‘intellectual labour’ is evidence of the secular crisis of capitalism, soon to render it incapable of maintaining current standards of living for even the former middle classes of the global north.
13. The overwhelming privileging of democracy-as-process needs to be left behind. The fetishisation of openness, horizontality, and inclusion of much of today’s ‘radical’ left set the stage for ineffectiveness. Secrecy, verticality, and exclusion all have their place as well in effective political action (though not, of course, an exclusive one). 14. Democracy cannot be defined simply by its means — not via voting, discussion, or general assemblies. Real democracy must be defined by its goal — collective self-mastery. This is a project which must align politics with the legacy of the Enlightenment, to the extent that it is only through harnessing our ability to understand ourselves and our world better (our social, technical, economic, psychological world) that we can come to rule ourselves. We need to posit a collectively controlled legitimate vertical authority in addition to distributed horizontal forms of sociality, to avoid becoming the slaves of either a tyrannical totalitarian centralism or a capricious emergent order beyond our control. The command of The Plan must be married to the improvised order of The Network. |
.
Curtis Yarvin
Yarvin conceived the concept of 'The Cathedral,' a term he uses to describe what he perceives as an informal alliance between academia, the media and government. According to Yarvin, these institutions work together to advance progressive ideologies while suppressing dissenting views. Yarvin's critique extends beyond accusations of institutional bias, positioning The Cathedral as a powerful ideological machine that maintains its influence by perpetuating a self-reinforcing 'progressive orthodoxy.' By framing democracy as an inherently coercive force that stifles intellectual and social freedom, Yarvin challenges the legitimacy of democratic institutions altogether.
He posits that these institutions exist not to serve the public good, as they claim, but to indoctrinate and control, perpetuating what he views as a hypocritical adherence to principles of equality and representation that ultimately undermine genuine freedom. This view seeks to erode public trust in democratic structures, paving the way for a model of governance centred on authoritarian control, with loyalty, submission, and efficiency prioritized over collective decision-making and accountability.
.
James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg, Peter Thiel
The Sovereign Individual, a 1997 work by James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg, aligns with NRx principles. In this book, Davidson and Rees-Mogg foresee a future where technology empowers wealthy individuals to ‘exit’ national governance and establish private sovereignties beyond collective governance structures. They argue that advancing technology and global economic integration will gradually make nation-states obsolete. These shifts, they propose, will allow the wealthy elite to separate from public governance and establish autonomous, self-ruled enclaves. This form of private governance sidesteps democratic accountability, redefining governance as a market-driven enterprise where allegiance, wealth, and control replace civic engagement and public accountability as the foundation of power.
Thiel’s endorsement reflects a willingness to deprioritize democratic principles in favour of a system where market dynamics determine governance. In this model, the wealthy act as an ‘untethered elite,’ operating outside traditional government structures and with minimal obligations toward society. Thiel’s support for these ideas resonates with NRx philosophy, which advocates for a hierarchical, authoritarian structure where governance is private, enabling elites to ‘exit’ mainstream society.
.
Rowland Atkinson
Urban sociologist Rowland Atkinson’s concept of ‘libertecture’ sheds light on the spatial dimensions of NRx and libertarian values. Libertecture encompasses urban developments like seasteads, gated communities, start-up cities and other forms of ‘free space’, each structured to prioritise independence and autonomy for the privileged at the expense of democratic inclusivity. These spaces foster exclusivity, creating environments accessible only to those with wealth or connections, undermining the democratic ideal of public, shared space. Atkinson’s analysis extends to other libertecture spaces, including digital ‘portal spaces,’ remote ‘pioneer exclaves,’ and even urban areas abandoned due to diverted investment. Each zone prioritises wealth and autonomy over inclusivity and civic engagement, fostering social and economic divides that deepen inequality. By promoting environments that devalue collective responsibility, libertecture contributes to a fragmented urban landscape where autonomy is privileged and social bonds weakened.
.
Neo-reactionary tactics
.
Matrix Red Pil
The ‘red pill’ metaphor from The Matrix has also become a powerful symbol within NRx ideology, representing an ‘awakening’ to the supposed truth that democratic values are illusory, concealing an underlying superiority of authoritarian rule. For NRx proponents, the democratic emphasis on equality and accountability is not merely flawed but fundamentally deceptive, masking a natural hierarchy that authoritarian governance could better serve. The red pill is a gateway to NRx’s worldview, which trivializes democracy and elevates authoritarianism, replacing civic engagement with loyalty to an elite authority. This metaphor has helped NRx thinkers recruit followers by presenting an authoritarian worldview as a path to enlightenment.
.
The rise of mainstream figures like Vance, who endorse or tacitly support NRx principles, poses serious threats to democratic society. As NRx ideas infiltrate mainstream politics, they introduce governance models fundamentally opposing democracy. This influence risks transforming urban spaces from shared, public environments into libertecture-inspired zones designed to serve a privileged elite, leaving the majority to navigate a landscape stripped of public services and collective resources. In a world already grappling with critical issues like climate change, economic inequality and social fragmentation, NRx’s emphasis on loyalty-driven governance and individual autonomy represents a dangerous divergence from democratic values and civic responsibility. The increasing influence of figures like Vance, Yarvin, Thiel and Musk (who also claims to have been ‘red-pilled’) signals a shift in American politics that could weaken the foundations of democratic life, replacing them with a structure where wealth and power determine societal roles, undermining the collective principles that have traditionally supported democratic society.
.
RAGE, a current (2025) tactics in the USA
R.A.G.E (Retire All Govt Employees) goal is to make government incapable of operating and to replace government with private corporations.
- To eliminate elections because they are "obsolete"
- To use distraction and chaos to prevent public resistance
.