Pink Floyd's The Wall

There is much discussion these days about the seemingly ‘sudden’ rise of Right-Wing Authoritarians around the world along with a growing population either unbothered or sympathetic. Understandably, many are wondering how we got here. Not so long ago we were living in a world that seemed to move beyond falling for Fascist lies and reactionary con-artists.

But here we are. Surrounded by the very villains we were once convinced were banished to the darkest edges of society. So, how did we get here? How can the reactionaries infect all corners of American governance and the ‘minds’ of a significant portion of the population?

Truth is it’s always been here. We never moved beyond.

In Pink Floyd's album ‘The Wall,’ we have one of the greatest illustrations of the reactionary cake being baked. Over the course of two sprawling parts, our protagonist is betrayed by all of the authority figures in his early life (father/dead, teachers/cruel, mother/overbearing) and brick by brick, he shuts himself off from everyone in his life. He officially ‘completes’ the wall by abandoning his wife and swirling deeper into an isolated self destruction.

Approaching the ever-rising bottom, he disassociates (letting the ‘worms’ take over), envisioning himself becoming a Fascist Dictator who rages against all that have wronged him and re-establishes control in his life through Hitlerian policies and ethnic cleansing.

It isn’t until he truly hits the bottom that puts himself on trial. His fears, while legitimate, can't be defeated through total isolation or authoritarian control. He has to stop blaming others and work to help himself. Only then can he escape this Fascist hellscape and tear down the wall.

In 2020, the pandemic shut the world down in a way most had never seen before. Socialization was driven inside and people connected mostly through a digital curtain. A curtain that granted levels of anonymity that give some the courage to voice their vilest inclinations.

It was here many people found a sense of stability in conspiracy, reactionary politics, and the sense that not only was the world rotten, it was someone else’s fault for letting it spoil.

Just as ‘The Wall’ starts and ends with different versions of the same song, The Fascists know that human nature is a cyclical thing and lie in wait for moments of instability to swoop in. When a world is thrown into chaos, people beg to re-establish order, no matter how cruel the means. As the cycle continues, Dictators will fall and The Fascists will lose. But we can't force them to put themselves on trial. Changing hearts and minds is no over night task. We can only hope to mitigate the damage before they implode.