Praise for The Terror of the Unforeseen
“Henry Giroux, a brilliant and revolutionary thinker, helps us understand why we must refuse to equate capitalism and democracy, or to normalize greed or accept individualism as the highest form of human life. In this exciting new take on social reality, Giroux describes how the neoliberalism that has for the past 40 years has been paving a path to fascism that will have a distinctively contemporary flavor, yet will be just as destructive as fascisms of the past. Filled with passion and insight, The Terror of the Unforeseen is a book that should be read by anyone who wants to understand and prepare for the dangers and opportunities of political struggle in the 2020s.”
— Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor of Tikkun Magazine
and author of Revolutionary Love
Henry Giroux has, for decades, combined passion and intellect to map out the often terrifying directions of US politics and economics, while recognizing, as too few on the left have, that culture matters. Refusing to give in to despair, The Terror of the Unforeseen argues that education is the necessary cornerstone of any democratic political struggle. It demonstrates, once again, why Giroux is one of the most important public intellectuals in the United States.
— Lawrence Grossberg, Morris Davis Distinguished Professor
at UNC Chapel Hill
“Henry Giroux’s The Terror of the Unforeseen provides an urgent warning in response to Donald Trump’s collapsing of language, showing us an alternative path through his own thoughtful, compassionate, sincere, and sophisticated writing.”
—Nick Pemberton
The Terror of the unforeseen
Henry A. Giroux
LARB PROVOCATIONS
This is a LARB Provocations publication
Published by The Los Angeles Review of Books
6671 Sunset Blvd., Suite 1521, Los Angeles, CA 90028
www.larbbooks.org
Copyright © Henry A. Giroux, 2019.
Introduction Copyright © Julian Casablancas, 2019.
All rights reserved.
Cover Artwork: Lanpinjarvi Finland by Isaac Cordal, copyright © Isaac Cordal. Courtesy of Isaac Cordal.
ISBN 978-1-940660-49-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018965700
Contents
Introduction by Julian Casablancas
The Terror of the Unforeseen
I. The Unforeseen in the Era of Fear
Chapter 1: The Ghost of Fascism in the Age of Trump
Chapter 2: Beyond the Language of Hate in Dark Times
Chapter 3: The Politics of Neoliberal Fascism
Chapter 4. The Twilight of the Social
II. Landscapes of Terror and Struggle
Chapter 5: Neoliberalism and Higher Education in a Time of Tyranny
Chapter 7: Striking for Justice: Teachers and Students Protesting Neoliberal Violence
Chapter 8: Beyond Neoliberal Fascism
For Rania
For Tony Penna, Donaldo Macedo, Jasmin Habib, Ray Seliwoniuk, friends to the end
Introduction
Julian Casablancas
When I speak about politics, I’m not speaking as a musician; I’m speaking as a citizen of a country imperiled. And because Henry so kindly and humbly handed me the microphone.
Since the dawn of modern civilization the influence of wealth on power has been a relentless, often brutal, force. It might shape-shift through the eras, but the phenomenon has regenerated itself countless times. Whether it manifests through sheer military might or elaborate fraud and subterfuge, it is ever-present, ever-toxic, and ultra-persistent.
The wealthy don’t need to hire armies to maintain their oppressive schemes anymore — they bribe politicians and control media elements instead. There is no system of oversight by independent bodies that can be trusted to maintain public welfare or truth as their priority. The internet is now the world’s largest subduction zone of myth. Weaponized media is the new propaganda, essentially an evolution of the medieval model of affluence and oppression.
The elusiveness of truth is a central problem facing democracy as we now know it. That’s why reading and celebrating people like Henry Giroux, who have dedicated themselves to uncovering and teaching the truth, is so important.
In this moving and passionate book, Henry revives a spirit we can find in the great abolitionist Fredrick Douglass’s words: “It is not the light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed.” Henry eloquently describes an economic system that has produced massive inequities in wealth and power, undermining the very notion of justice, equality, and democracy itself.
I wish to offer a rallying cry for the separation of wealth and state, while lovingly confining capitalism to the private sector, as opposed to having a for-profit government, and various other for-profit political vehicles. Of course, not all business activity is bad. But as many folks are finally beginning to realize, the corporate world’s indifferent attitude to the suffering it creates — not to mention their control over policy — will likely end up trashing earth. The divisive jargon and disinformation in support of neoliberal ideals is all political distraction, a basic con laid out by billionaires for one dumb reason: so that they can pay no taxes.
The word for this clean-cut attitude of modern pillaging is neoliberalism. This savage word is one that Henry uses a whole lot. It sounds so sophisticated, civilized, and reasonable: the “free market” is to be left alone to do its thing. Sounds positive, right?
But the fatal flaw of unchecked free markets and privatization is that the private sector doesn’t care if people die. The private sector doesn’t care if people suffer, or even if they are themselves the cause of the suffering.
Capitalism can work (the night is young!), but it must be more in balance with other important human values. Values like truth. Values like freedom while respecting the freedom of others. The value of human happiness over harming people to make a buck.
In an ideal civilized world, companies and people would be incentivized to not hurt people. Currently, it’s the other way around. Instead of using research to stop deadly behavior we use it to minimize costs. To evolve past medieval cultural values, we have to require that business succeeds without causing horrific suffering.
Our system motivates and rewards this behavior. It perpetuates greed as our only clear value. Corporations will never change the system