De Benoist: Americans are not Europeans

myslpolska.info 7 months ago

We print the translation of the interview with the French intellectual, co-writer of the European current of the fresh Right, Alain de Benoist.

The interview was released on the French portal breizh-info.com on 8 November 2024.

The winner is Continental America

What is your preliminary analysis of Donald Trump's decisive win?

– General de Gaulle, erstwhile he heard individual praising his American political system, replied that “In France the ultimate Court is the people”. Donald Trump was a working class candidate and so won. His triumph is all the more significant, that apart from votes in the electorate college (which is not truly democratic), he besides obtained a majority of voters' votes, dispelling much of his pathetic competitor, willing to do something that he failed in 2016 or 2020 (and something that no Republican candidate has obtained since 2004). In another words, Trump's triumph is primarily a triumph of the people over establishment. In France, the equivalent of this people would be “peripheral France”. Beyond the Atlantic, this means winning continental America over maritime America.

Finally, which was little frequently stressed, is besides the triumph of concrete references to abstraction. Trump spoke of the existing reality of America, and his rival spoke of spacious, universal terms specified as “democracy”, the conflict for “freedom”, “civilization”, which, like all concepts without a specific, unambiguous wording, are simply devoid of all meanings of mantras.

EU antemortem

How do you think Trump's presidency will affect relations between the United States and Europe, especially on the most crucial issues specified as Ukraine, European defence policy, protectionism? any believe that Trump can lead to a form of strategical independency in Europe. Do you think that Trump's second word could someway accelerate the pursuit of greater European autonomy in defence and abroad policy?

"The relation with Europe will change. Donald Trump is traditionally indifferent to transatlantic ties. He thinks NATO costs besides many Americans, and he doesn't give them much. Will this shake up Europeans who usually imagined that "in case of trouble, we can always number on our American allies"? Sometimes they could number on them, but frequently not at all. Trump wants to break up with the "democratic-missionary" function of America and return to the classical logic of the large powers. He wants to end wars that do nothing. As for Ukraine, his initiatives will not be very pleasant for Zelenski – not due to the fact that Trump sympathizes with Putin, but due to the fact that he wants to end a war that has not achieved its goals and which Ukraine has already lost. However, those who anticipate him to prosecute a policy of any form of designation of Russia as a "acceptable" partner will be disappointed. Similarly, as far as the mediate East is concerned, he will not decide to support the military confrontation with Iran, which Netanyahu is dreaming of. Russia will stay an enemy to the Americans, but China will be their main rival, and it is apparent that Trump will focus on them.

Another issue is protectionism. Trump never hid that he intended to rise duties on goods exported to the United States. The Chinese fear that their production will be subject to a work of 60%, alternatively of the current 20%. Europeans are besides on his radar; Trump doesn't intend to privileged them. In general, the fresh president will keep good relations with any European countries, but he will not search all Europeans. It will go to the level of bilateral relations in which it can better defend its interests.

Under these fresh conditions, will Europeans begin to prosecute more autonomy in defence and abroad policy? You can only hope so. At best, they will be heading in this direction, but in an indecisive way. The European Union is pre-mortem. Its biggest failure is to abandon the categories that erstwhile filled Europe (identity, power, boundaries, principles) and to go towards identifying it with "universal values" which, in application of circumstantial situations, mean absolutely nothing.

Americans are not Europeans

Trump is frequently seen as a symbol of opposition against globalisation and Vokeism. Do you think that his re-election can strengthen nationalist movements in Europe and populist right-wing politicians?

– I highly uncertainty that. I full realize the sympathy with which certain nationalist environments approach certain Trump views. I besides realize the support that Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán gave him. Does this mean, though, that Trump is an example? Not at all, due to the fact that political life in America and political life on our side of the Atlantic are diametrically different. Just as Africans are not darker-skinned Europeans, so Americans are not English-speaking Europeans. The profoundly rooted sources of his triumph grow out of a reality completely different from European. The function played by Elon Musk, the meaning of Evangelical Christianity (and Christian Zionists), idealizing Bible and the Constitution, as well as Trump's aggressive kind of speech – all of this has no equivalents in Europe. People who are lazy intellectually respond emotionally to key words – immigration, vokeism etc. – but they see only 1 side of the medal. Any effort to map Trump in Europe is, in my opinion, doomed to failure. Rather, Europeans should think about what "making America large again" will mean to us. If it succeeds, we will face real danger.

Europe on the fringe

What about the dynamics of the relation between the United States, China and Russia? Will Europe be further isolated, or will it be able to search any fresh expression for strategical partnership?

“The United States will proceed to see Russia, and in peculiar China, as the primary sources of threats to their already crushing hegemony. They will very rapidly come to the conclusion that if they have failed to bring Russia to its knees, they must reduce the commitment on the European stage, which is no longer very crucial to them. They will limit themselves to making everything possible so that only Europe does not become a power, or a competitor. Europe will be left alone with its obligations which it cannot bear. The biggest hazard for Europe is so not its "isolate", but the constant baseless calculation of what. This will proceed to happen, at least until there is simply a essential systemic change that we need.

Capitalism as a origin of immigration pathology

Do you think Trump's tough stance on immigration could be an approach that will inspire a more restrictive migration policy in Europe?

– possibly so, but I repeat: we cannot copy what cannot be transferred to us. Talking about immigration as specified is utilizing a word besides broad, which in itself means nothing. The issue of immigration in the United States is fundamentally different from that in Europe. Latin immigrants trying to cross Rio Grande at all costs are not Muslims but Catholics. They usually admire the country where they want to settle and assimilate. These are crucial differences (this explains why Trump gained 12% of Black and 45% of Hispanic votes). The issue of borders is besides rather different, both for historical and geographical reasons. Finally, we should not forget that the general increase in mobility is linked to the expansion of the capitalist system, which is the primary origin of the social pathologies related to immigration we are witnessing.

Civil war is rather real.

To put this problem a small more broadly, Donald Trump's triumph reflects crucial divisions in the United States. Do you think a secession in this country will be possible in the coming decades?

The problem does exist. We are witnessing the return and intensification of political polarization in the United States, to which we are not accustomed. The confederate Democratic vote (Dixie-crats), resulting from historical reasons (Lincoln was a Republican), for a long time led to a blurring of the border between the Democratic and Republican platform, up to a state where they became hard to distinguish, especially for observers from abroad. The gradual transition of the South to Republicans reversed this dynamics. Polarization has emerged and present Democrats with Republicans no longer speak. We now have 2 different Americas that feel only hatred for each other. In the average term, everything is possible, starting with the civilian war in this saturated country's weaponry (the number of firearms there is larger than the number of inhabitants), which I personally consider much more likely in the United States than in Europe. In the weeks before the presidential election, there was already a nervousness associated with what could happen if Trump had not been elected. These emotions won't vanish so soon. Trump will be reasonable if he hires good security...

Establishment in your own bubble

Trump's triumph is besides a slap for the media establishment mainstream, which, both in France and in another countries, became active in the Harris campaign. Do you think that this failure of the media caste will force her to change her attitude and view of the evolution of the world, or has ideology blinded them irreversibly?

“The symbol of the Democratic organization is the elephant. As we all know, the elephant honks. I will admit that watching those noses, wrinkled eyebrows and learned translations of circus media directors who had already imagined Kamala Harris moving into the White home after gaining support for “undecided” was a fascinating performance. No informing signals got to them. They did not draw any conclusions from Hillary Clinton's defeat in 2016. They can't realize how Trump won. More specifically, they cannot realize that Trump won not against what they themselves find repugnant, but due to this. You're right: these people are blind. They are blind due to the fact that they function in an information bubble and neglect to see that the real planet is becoming more and more different from their wishful thinking. They are unreformable politically, morally, physically and intellectually. They keep dancing and chirping on board the Titanic, unaware that their planet is leaving, and the planet that will replace it will be much more violent. They advance their terms ritually, speaking of "populism", "talk of hatred", "systemic racism", "toxic masculinity", but nobody cares anymore. Let them gibberish, let them stay in lethargy. past is written elsewhere, without their participation.

Source:https://www.breizh-info.com/2024/11/08/240130/alain-de-benoist-trump-usa/

The title and the mediate titles come from Editorial.

Read Entire Article