Fear as a 'weapon of democracy': Here and in Germany's Europe

We know the situation here. We have a fairly extensive experience of how fear is used as a weapon.

Indeed, was September 12, 1980 not a pinnacle in this regard? The Turkish left, which focused on a single party — the fascist MHP — and refused to see the broader orientation of big capital, effectively eliminated itself. The generals and Özal were merely the pretext. September 12 was that kind of "success."

The left was rendered dysfunctional, and the public became stuck in the sentiment of "Let the military come and put an end to this directionlessness!" People accepted everything. The responsibility lay not with the public but with the Turkish left of the era — a left that had completely discredited itself through a hollow concept of democracy and was unable to defend its own social project. It was in the hands of those who thought they could gain something through opportunism. Anyway, what happened, happened. That's the past...

But we can draw a connection: there are serious parallels between Turkey and Germany's Europe — of which Turkey is a part and under whose vassalage it groans — and this continues across every field, especially in politics. How so?

Capital has a very serious body of experience.

The management floors of giant corporations believe they have successfully used fear as a weapon to shape societies. The same applies in politics.

Let us look at AKP Turkey: the climate of fear between the June and November elections of 2015 has become a frequently cited example in recent years.

It is true — fear is the primary fuel of the free-market economy. In a market economy, it is permissible to stoke every kind of metaphysical construct, religion and nationality chief among them, in order to steer people and societies. And they do it.

That is already the case here — but is the situation any different in the "Western democracies"?

A glance at anti-communist hysteria and its history is enough. They will try anything to throw societies into disarray and steer them away from their own interests.

Every metaphysical construct is deployed by stoking concrete fears.

Let us look at Germany — the hegemonic power of Europe — using a more polite term, as an "imperial democracy." Germany is preparing to lose leadership in many sectors of world markets after being cut off from Russian energy, yet no replacement power has emerged, and for Turkey it remains the most important external center...

Let us look...

SPREADING FEAR AND STENCH

It was reflected in the Turkish media in recent days as well: that Volkswagen (VW) is preparing to lay off close to 100,000 workers worldwide and is making preparations to close 4 factories in Germany — this was splashed across the headlines of media outlets that are themselves big capital. The calculations around closing those 4 VW factories in Germany were "leaked" to the public.

A message was sent to German society, which is already under a serious wave of impoverishment.

A fear spread.

A stench spread.

In Germany, energy-intensive sectors — led by the automotive industry, along with mechanical manufacturing, chemicals, and their subsidiaries — are preparing to pack up and leave; but is it only the fear of that?

No.

This spreading fear/stench has another meaning.

These efforts are aimed at bringing about a "regulation" (a "suppression") of real wages domestically, so that capital does not shift its investments abroad or relocate new production to regions where energy prices are more favorable. How so?

Like this: they believe they can offset losses in energy costs with reductions in labor costs — that is, with a decline in workers' real wages — and they are preparing society for exactly that. Working classes are being called upon to make sacrifices so that industry does not flee abroad. And indeed, encouraging signs are being received on that front. Because there are no unions to speak of. The left is nowhere to be found... They exist and yet they don't...

We are talking about increasing pressure on the general level of wages.

Without these games, people would not submit to this through the stick alone. To use the expressions that Bahadır Selim Dilek — who has drawn our attention with his unconventional analyses in this newspaper — occasionally employs, "weapons of mass persuasion" must be deployed and society must be convinced. The mainstream media exists for this purpose. The "dissident leftists" inside and outside it are also needed for this purpose. Anyway...

But there is another face to the pressure on the general level of wages. We are talking about giant corporations. These are also developing new political games domestically, while at the same time relocating their investments to regions that operate with favorable energy prices. Fine.

Fine — but how will they protect these investments? Capital always needs a "guardian army." Domestically and abroad. For this, they need to thoroughly "militarize" society and industry, and to reinforce military and police violence with new weapons and personnel. Ultimately, capital defends itself through violence, and making that violence accepted as normal by society is the most important task. Handelsblatt, the most important daily economic newspaper in the German-speaking world, is publishing news and analyses under the headline "Germany's industry is planning to emigrate" (Deutschlands Industrie plant die Abwanderung). The same newspaper also reports that VW is making plans to sell and produce Chinese models in Europe.

All of this means producing fear.  

This means sowing violence.

We keep saying that there are no qualitative differences between Turkey and its European partners.

They say those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind. But what of those who sow the whirlwind?

In Turkey and in Europe alike, they are now openly sowing the whirlwind.

We shall see what they reap.

Or we will find ourselves unable to see anything at all.