The Condition of the Differentiated Man under Western Postmodern Totalitarianism

The end of the Cold War was proclaimed by the heralds of the triumphant New World Order as the dawn of human freedom, with humanity marching united towards a utopia. This was the tone of the pseudo-messianic optimism of Atlanticist thinkers like Francis Fukuyama.

Over the last few decades, however, we have seen the planet slide towards the most totalitarian arrangement ever seen on the face of the earth.

As described by the philosopher Alexander Dugin, deprived of rivals, liberalism is diluted and blended with objective reality itself. Everything that is ideological ceases to be perceived as ideological through sheer lack of choice. If only liberalism is known, it is not an "ism", but simply science, reality, truth.

But perhaps what is most dangerous is that insofar as, because of its Enlightenment and universalist roots, liberalism has pretended to speak on behalf of humanity, it has resulted in the exclusion from the "human sphere" of all who reject liberalism. With liberalism having spread to almost the entire planet, this means that on the horizontal, geographical plane, there is no refuge, nowhere to run.

All that remains is the vertical, inner plane. 

Here it seems relevant to recall the concept of the "differentiated man" that appears in Julius Evola's later works, specifically in Ride the Tiger. The "differentiated man" is a figure who, in the midst of the modern world, remains absolutely detached, who is not emotionally affected by the events and phenomena of that world, even though he continues to participate in it. Evola applies the term "apoliteia" to the type of relationship that the differentiated man establishes with the community. 

It is essential to emphasize that, contrary to what has been a popular interpretation, this apoliteia of the differentiated man is not an anti-political or post-political stance in the post-modern sense. The differentiated man adopts the apoliteic stance when the objective conditions are unfavorable to practical engagement in the restoration of the Traditional State.

In this sense, the apoliteia is an interlude in the existence of the "radical traditionalist". It is the period in which he engages in inner warfare, in the formation of an elite and in the preparation of his own forces while awaiting the arrival of the precise kairos.

It is also important to point out that a rigorous interpretation of the Evolian text shows that the Baron does not criticize political engagement itself in the unfavorable conditions of the contemporary world. But this engagement must be conducted precisely with the inner detachment that marks the "differentiated man".

This judgment about the existence or non-existence of the objective conditions for revolutionary movements to restore Tradition is not leveled on a global scale, but varies according to the country, so that only the "vanguard", the "spiritual aristocracy" of each nation can say whether these conditions exist or not, and what the scope for action is.

In this sense, we are commenting here more specifically on the countries of the West or under strong Western influence, where the objective conditions for the restoration of Tradition are the lowest and, therefore, the methodology of warfare to be applied (for those who are not content with individual salvation alone) is indirect, more akin to guerrilla warfare.

In fact, the element most indicative of the absence of objective conditions is the level of control achieved by the synarchic forces, which is much greater than any dictatorship of the 20th century, both in breadth and depth. The methods of surveillance and monitoring, on a collective and individual level, are unprecedented. But an even greater level of control has been achieved by the total regimentation of the human body.

With the popularization of all kinds of cosmetic surgeries, surrogacy and sex reassignment surgeries, the barrier of the human body has already been taken by storm by turbo-capitalism. The human body has become one commodity among others, which can be fractioned and whose parts are interchangeable. The relativization of the body and its transformation into a commodity has made it easier for the ruling class to control, just as the market availability of any and all goods, once "common" or unavailable, by inserting the good into relations of production, immediately hands it over to the control of the class that owns Capital.

At the same time, as Jünger predicted, there is nowhere to escape to on the horizontal plane. There is almost no part of the world without a McDonald's. And although the degree of advance of the Kali Yuga, i.e. the degenerative and anti-human forces, varies and although there are incipient organized forces in some parts of the world, in the countries of North America, Europe and even most of Latin America the conditions are extremely unfavourable.

What is needed at the moment is a deepening of the apoliteic stance, expanded to the biological level. We're talking here about something like a bioapoliteia.

The differentiated man here either absolutely denies external interference in his body in an absolute sense (which is usually only possible in a few countries or in conditions of absolute clandestinity) or, more likely, assumes a "ride the tiger" stance.

The idea of "ride the tiger" is not to be confused with apoliteia or the Jüngerian forest step. On the contrary, it is an effort to use the instruments and mechanisms of decadence against the dying order itself, pushing it towards its collapse. The idea is to "hold on" as the beast struggles through its crisis. Instead of intransigence, which can destroy the kshatriya in post-modernity, to act where there is a breach, to make the best possible decisions for oneself and the cause according to the objective conditions, to avoid one's own persecution and destruction through dissimulation even, in the same sense as the Muslim "takeyya".

Here, as far as biopolitical tyranny is concerned, it is obviously a question of using loopholes in health regulations to one's own advantage. If it's necessary to manipulate information and documents, so be it. If it's not possible to avoid "magic potions", then make an informed choice (i.e. one that doesn't manipulate RNA) and take the harm reduction measures that are already widespread.

For those of us who live in territory under enemy occupation, the fundamental priority is to ensure that the fighting continues until victory, even if we have to resort to every possible and imaginable trick at our disposal.

Raphael Machado is a political analyst, the president the organisation ”Nova Resistência”, Brasil