Donald Rumsfeld became better known for his known unknowns, and his unknown unknowns than he was ever known for his supposed knowns. Such is the perverseness of history. Contrary to neoliberal thinking that history is just a series of known facts, nothing could be further from the truth. It is all a matter of asking how we create facts, recall them and then of interpretation.
What I suggest that we do know now is that we live in an age of uncertainty.
We used to be certain that the USA was the enemy of Russia. Now Donald Trump is inviting Russia to attack Europe.
We used to be certain that the Conservatives upheld law and order. Now they are determined to undermine it.
We were told as certain fact that the Tories would always manage the economy prudently. We now know that is not true.
And, we were certain that the lessons of the 1930s with regard to pandering to fascism had been learned. That is clearly not the case.
This does, of course, create uncertainty. Is it any surprise that there is so much collective angst in the world when so little that was once supposedly relied upon is no longer true?
That angst is, however, compounded by something else. Rumsfeld might have thought that the opposite of a known was an unknown unknown, but an uncertain uncertainty is not the opposite of a certainty.
We are not living in a world where the opposite of our old certainty is unknown. We are living in a world where that opposite is most definitely known. The opposite of our old certainty is that the world is fast embracing fascism both nationally and internationally. The only thing that is unknown is how long it will take for us to accept the reality of this new certainty.
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Living in Northern Ireland has one obvious benefit in this uncertain political age. All educated individuals here know that all forms of British political Unionism are openly and unashamedly fascist in intent and delivery. It is frustrating to watch so many under GB’s post Brexit fascist ruling class become politically hypnotised by the most extreme Northern Irish Uber colonialists and yet still seemingly not see the reality or the destructive and criminal social consequences.
It is historically fitting that the DUP helped deliver Brexit for Britain First as anecdotally Oswald Moseley when approached about joining the Ulster Unionist party back in the day refused to on the grounds that they were far too right wing for his political leanings.
I am more interested in practicalities. For example, how are we going to know, or track that goods from mainland UK that are bound for NI, will stay in NI? Apparently there are estimated to be over 200 road crossings between the Republic and NI.
We were certain that all political parties, including the UK conservative party, highly valued institutions. They said and we were told; institutions are what tie nations together. Without them their are no values or any national identity to speak of.
This is no longer the case. And so much of identity seems uncertain. Conservatives, particularly the more populist variety, resemble the political narratives of Jean Jacques-Rousseau rather than Edmund Burke. And 10 years I ago I would have believed this to be a crazy thought. But crazy it is. And yes in the past such thought has been linked to proto-fascism. Conservativism has stopped being democracy’s first line of defense.
I am certain that Charles Taylor is 100% right.