#michaelanton — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #michaelanton, aggregated by home.social.
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[Substack-Writing From London]: Michael Anton: An American fanatic. By Nick Cohen, December 12, 2025
Trump’s hacks make their hatred for us clear
https://open.substack.com/pub/nickcohen/p/michael-anton-an-american-fanatic?r=buqu&utm_medium=ios
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In 2022 Vox called Yarvin the “person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly,
the US government could be toppled and replaced”.Yarvin suggests that a would-be American autocrat should campaign on and win an electoral mandate for an authoritarian program.
They should purge the federal bureaucracy in a push Yarvin has anagrammatized as #RAGE (for “retire all government employees”).
They should simply ignore any court rulings that seek to constrain them.
They should bring Congress to heel,
in part by mobilizing their populist base against recalcitrant lawmakers.And liberal or mainstream media organizations and universities should be summarily closed.
Given the post-election period and Trump’s preparation for a return to the White House,
Yarvin’s program seems less fanciful than it did in 2021, when he laid it out for Anton.In the recording of that podcast, Yarvin offers a condensed presentation of his program which he has laid out on Substack and in other venues.
Midway through their conversation, Anton says to Yarvin,
“You’re essentially advocating for someone to
– age-old move
– gain power lawfully through an election,
and then exercise it unlawfully”,
adding: “What do you think the actual chances of that happening are?”Yarvin responded:
“It wouldn’t be unlawful,”
adding:
“You’d simply declare a state of emergency in your inaugural address.”Yarvin continued:
“You’d actually have a mandate to do this.Where would that mandate come from?
It would come from basically running on it, saying,
‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.’”Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out a wide array of anti-democratic or authoritarian moves,
and effectively ran on these promises.Trump has suggested he might declare a state of emergency in response to America’s immigration crisis.
Trump also promised to pursue retribution on individually named antagonists
like representative Nancy Pelosi and senator-elect Adam Schiff,
and spoke more broadly about dispatching the US military to deal with “the enemy within”.Later in the recording, Yarvin said that after a hypothetical authoritarian president was inaugurated in January,
“you can’t continue to have a Harvard or a New York Times past since perhaps the start of April”.Later expanding on the idea with
💥“the idea that you’re going to be a Caesar and take power and operate with
someone else’s Department of Reality in operation is just manifestly absurd.”“Machiavelli could tell you right away that that’s a stupid idea,” Yarvin added.
While he has not yet assumed power, Trump has moved against media outlets,
commencing lawsuits against some including the Des Moines Register, CBS and ABC,
with the latter settling a $15m suit that legal experts believed to be winnable for the broadcaster.Vice-president-elect
JD Vance, meanwhile, and others in the broader Maga orbit like #Christopher #Rufo
have identified universities as primary ideological enemies,
with Rufo helping to remake New College of Florida in the image of Christian nationalism.In 2022, Vance told Vanity Fair:
“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left
and turn them against the left.
We need like a de-Baathification program,
a de-woke-ification program.”The Guardian reported in August that Vance said in a podcast recording:
“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast.That’s the universities.”
-- Jason Wilson
-
In 2022 Vox called Yarvin the “person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly,
the US government could be toppled and replaced”.Yarvin suggests that a would-be American autocrat should campaign on and win an electoral mandate for an authoritarian program.
They should purge the federal bureaucracy in a push Yarvin has anagrammatized as #RAGE (for “retire all government employees”).
They should simply ignore any court rulings that seek to constrain them.
They should bring Congress to heel,
in part by mobilizing their populist base against recalcitrant lawmakers.And liberal or mainstream media organizations and universities should be summarily closed.
Given the post-election period and Trump’s preparation for a return to the White House,
Yarvin’s program seems less fanciful than it did in 2021, when he laid it out for Anton.In the recording of that podcast, Yarvin offers a condensed presentation of his program which he has laid out on Substack and in other venues.
Midway through their conversation, Anton says to Yarvin,
“You’re essentially advocating for someone to
– age-old move
– gain power lawfully through an election,
and then exercise it unlawfully”,
adding: “What do you think the actual chances of that happening are?”Yarvin responded:
“It wouldn’t be unlawful,”
adding:
“You’d simply declare a state of emergency in your inaugural address.”Yarvin continued:
“You’d actually have a mandate to do this.Where would that mandate come from?
It would come from basically running on it, saying,
‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.’”Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out a wide array of anti-democratic or authoritarian moves,
and effectively ran on these promises.Trump has suggested he might declare a state of emergency in response to America’s immigration crisis.
Trump also promised to pursue retribution on individually named antagonists
like representative Nancy Pelosi and senator-elect Adam Schiff,
and spoke more broadly about dispatching the US military to deal with “the enemy within”.Later in the recording, Yarvin said that after a hypothetical authoritarian president was inaugurated in January,
“you can’t continue to have a Harvard or a New York Times past since perhaps the start of April”.Later expanding on the idea with
💥“the idea that you’re going to be a Caesar and take power and operate with
someone else’s Department of Reality in operation is just manifestly absurd.”“Machiavelli could tell you right away that that’s a stupid idea,” Yarvin added.
While he has not yet assumed power, Trump has moved against media outlets,
commencing lawsuits against some including the Des Moines Register, CBS and ABC,
with the latter settling a $15m suit that legal experts believed to be winnable for the broadcaster.Vice-president-elect
JD Vance, meanwhile, and others in the broader Maga orbit like #Christopher #Rufo
have identified universities as primary ideological enemies,
with Rufo helping to remake New College of Florida in the image of Christian nationalism.In 2022, Vance told Vanity Fair:
“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left
and turn them against the left.
We need like a de-Baathification program,
a de-woke-ification program.”The Guardian reported in August that Vance said in a podcast recording:
“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast.That’s the universities.”
-- Jason Wilson
-
In 2022 Vox called Yarvin the “person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly,
the US government could be toppled and replaced”.Yarvin suggests that a would-be American autocrat should campaign on and win an electoral mandate for an authoritarian program.
They should purge the federal bureaucracy in a push Yarvin has anagrammatized as #RAGE (for “retire all government employees”).
They should simply ignore any court rulings that seek to constrain them.
They should bring Congress to heel,
in part by mobilizing their populist base against recalcitrant lawmakers.And liberal or mainstream media organizations and universities should be summarily closed.
Given the post-election period and Trump’s preparation for a return to the White House,
Yarvin’s program seems less fanciful than it did in 2021, when he laid it out for Anton.In the recording of that podcast, Yarvin offers a condensed presentation of his program which he has laid out on Substack and in other venues.
Midway through their conversation, Anton says to Yarvin,
“You’re essentially advocating for someone to
– age-old move
– gain power lawfully through an election,
and then exercise it unlawfully”,
adding: “What do you think the actual chances of that happening are?”Yarvin responded:
“It wouldn’t be unlawful,”
adding:
“You’d simply declare a state of emergency in your inaugural address.”Yarvin continued:
“You’d actually have a mandate to do this.Where would that mandate come from?
It would come from basically running on it, saying,
‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.’”Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out a wide array of anti-democratic or authoritarian moves,
and effectively ran on these promises.Trump has suggested he might declare a state of emergency in response to America’s immigration crisis.
Trump also promised to pursue retribution on individually named antagonists
like representative Nancy Pelosi and senator-elect Adam Schiff,
and spoke more broadly about dispatching the US military to deal with “the enemy within”.Later in the recording, Yarvin said that after a hypothetical authoritarian president was inaugurated in January,
“you can’t continue to have a Harvard or a New York Times past since perhaps the start of April”.Later expanding on the idea with
💥“the idea that you’re going to be a Caesar and take power and operate with
someone else’s Department of Reality in operation is just manifestly absurd.”“Machiavelli could tell you right away that that’s a stupid idea,” Yarvin added.
While he has not yet assumed power, Trump has moved against media outlets,
commencing lawsuits against some including the Des Moines Register, CBS and ABC,
with the latter settling a $15m suit that legal experts believed to be winnable for the broadcaster.Vice-president-elect
JD Vance, meanwhile, and others in the broader Maga orbit like #Christopher #Rufo
have identified universities as primary ideological enemies,
with Rufo helping to remake New College of Florida in the image of Christian nationalism.In 2022, Vance told Vanity Fair:
“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left
and turn them against the left.
We need like a de-Baathification program,
a de-woke-ification program.”The Guardian reported in August that Vance said in a podcast recording:
“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast.That’s the universities.”
-- Jason Wilson
-
In 2022 Vox called Yarvin the “person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly,
the US government could be toppled and replaced”.Yarvin suggests that a would-be American autocrat should campaign on and win an electoral mandate for an authoritarian program.
They should purge the federal bureaucracy in a push Yarvin has anagrammatized as #RAGE (for “retire all government employees”).
They should simply ignore any court rulings that seek to constrain them.
They should bring Congress to heel,
in part by mobilizing their populist base against recalcitrant lawmakers.And liberal or mainstream media organizations and universities should be summarily closed.
Given the post-election period and Trump’s preparation for a return to the White House,
Yarvin’s program seems less fanciful than it did in 2021, when he laid it out for Anton.In the recording of that podcast, Yarvin offers a condensed presentation of his program which he has laid out on Substack and in other venues.
Midway through their conversation, Anton says to Yarvin,
“You’re essentially advocating for someone to
– age-old move
– gain power lawfully through an election,
and then exercise it unlawfully”,
adding: “What do you think the actual chances of that happening are?”Yarvin responded:
“It wouldn’t be unlawful,”
adding:
“You’d simply declare a state of emergency in your inaugural address.”Yarvin continued:
“You’d actually have a mandate to do this.Where would that mandate come from?
It would come from basically running on it, saying,
‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.’”Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out a wide array of anti-democratic or authoritarian moves,
and effectively ran on these promises.Trump has suggested he might declare a state of emergency in response to America’s immigration crisis.
Trump also promised to pursue retribution on individually named antagonists
like representative Nancy Pelosi and senator-elect Adam Schiff,
and spoke more broadly about dispatching the US military to deal with “the enemy within”.Later in the recording, Yarvin said that after a hypothetical authoritarian president was inaugurated in January,
“you can’t continue to have a Harvard or a New York Times past since perhaps the start of April”.Later expanding on the idea with
💥“the idea that you’re going to be a Caesar and take power and operate with
someone else’s Department of Reality in operation is just manifestly absurd.”“Machiavelli could tell you right away that that’s a stupid idea,” Yarvin added.
While he has not yet assumed power, Trump has moved against media outlets,
commencing lawsuits against some including the Des Moines Register, CBS and ABC,
with the latter settling a $15m suit that legal experts believed to be winnable for the broadcaster.Vice-president-elect
JD Vance, meanwhile, and others in the broader Maga orbit like #Christopher #Rufo
have identified universities as primary ideological enemies,
with Rufo helping to remake New College of Florida in the image of Christian nationalism.In 2022, Vance told Vanity Fair:
“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left
and turn them against the left.
We need like a de-Baathification program,
a de-woke-ification program.”The Guardian reported in August that Vance said in a podcast recording:
“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast.That’s the universities.”
-- Jason Wilson
-
In 2022 Vox called Yarvin the “person who’s spent the most time gaming out how, exactly,
the US government could be toppled and replaced”.Yarvin suggests that a would-be American autocrat should campaign on and win an electoral mandate for an authoritarian program.
They should purge the federal bureaucracy in a push Yarvin has anagrammatized as #RAGE (for “retire all government employees”).
They should simply ignore any court rulings that seek to constrain them.
They should bring Congress to heel,
in part by mobilizing their populist base against recalcitrant lawmakers.And liberal or mainstream media organizations and universities should be summarily closed.
Given the post-election period and Trump’s preparation for a return to the White House,
Yarvin’s program seems less fanciful than it did in 2021, when he laid it out for Anton.In the recording of that podcast, Yarvin offers a condensed presentation of his program which he has laid out on Substack and in other venues.
Midway through their conversation, Anton says to Yarvin,
“You’re essentially advocating for someone to
– age-old move
– gain power lawfully through an election,
and then exercise it unlawfully”,
adding: “What do you think the actual chances of that happening are?”Yarvin responded:
“It wouldn’t be unlawful,”
adding:
“You’d simply declare a state of emergency in your inaugural address.”Yarvin continued:
“You’d actually have a mandate to do this.Where would that mandate come from?
It would come from basically running on it, saying,
‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do.’”Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to carry out a wide array of anti-democratic or authoritarian moves,
and effectively ran on these promises.Trump has suggested he might declare a state of emergency in response to America’s immigration crisis.
Trump also promised to pursue retribution on individually named antagonists
like representative Nancy Pelosi and senator-elect Adam Schiff,
and spoke more broadly about dispatching the US military to deal with “the enemy within”.Later in the recording, Yarvin said that after a hypothetical authoritarian president was inaugurated in January,
“you can’t continue to have a Harvard or a New York Times past since perhaps the start of April”.Later expanding on the idea with
💥“the idea that you’re going to be a Caesar and take power and operate with
someone else’s Department of Reality in operation is just manifestly absurd.”“Machiavelli could tell you right away that that’s a stupid idea,” Yarvin added.
While he has not yet assumed power, Trump has moved against media outlets,
commencing lawsuits against some including the Des Moines Register, CBS and ABC,
with the latter settling a $15m suit that legal experts believed to be winnable for the broadcaster.Vice-president-elect
JD Vance, meanwhile, and others in the broader Maga orbit like #Christopher #Rufo
have identified universities as primary ideological enemies,
with Rufo helping to remake New College of Florida in the image of Christian nationalism.In 2022, Vance told Vanity Fair:
“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left
and turn them against the left.
We need like a de-Baathification program,
a de-woke-ification program.”The Guardian reported in August that Vance said in a podcast recording:
“There is no way for a conservative to accomplish our vision of society unless we’re willing to strike at the heart of the beast.That’s the universities.”
-- Jason Wilson
-
‘This is what we’re going to do’
Yarvin is the originator of the neoreactionary or
“dark enlightenment” movement,
whose early ideas he developed on a blog called
"Unqualified Reservations" in 2007 and 2008
under the pseudonym #Mencius #Moldbug.He now writes a Substack newsletter under his own name
and the far-right imprint "Passage Publishing" recently published an anthology of his earlier writing.The Guardian previously reported that Passage Publishing’s founder is #Jonathan #Keeperman,
a former UC Irvine lecturer who had previously operated under the pseudonym “#L0m3z”.For years, Yarvin has consistently held to a number of explicitly anti-democratic beliefs:
🔸republican self-government has already ended;
🔸real power is exercised oligarchically in a small number of prestigious academic and media institutions he calls the #Cathedral;
🔸and a sclerotic democracy should be replaced by a strict hierarchy headed by a single person whose role is that of a monarch or CEO.He also thinks that current liberal democracy contains the seeds of its own destruction.
As JD Vance put it in a 2021 podcast interview with far-right influencer #Jack #Murphy:
“There’s this guy Curtis Yarvin who’s written about some of these things.
One has to basically accept that the whole thing is going to fall in on itself.”Vance added:
“The task of conservatives right now is to preserve as much as can be preserved
and then when the inevitable collapse comes you build back the country in a way that’s actually better.”-- Jason Wilson