If you haven’t heard of the “Dark Enlightenment” you’re not alone – the Dark Enlightenment is an “alt-right” neo-fascistic movement that advocates a return to extreme traditional values and monarchy in lieu of democracy, which it perceives as chaotic and ineffective. The movement began with Curtis Yarvin, who has been much in the news lately, and Nick Land – both software engineers in Silicon Valley, and has been supported by Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley billionaire who was once a partner of Elon Musk in the startup which became PayPal.
The rise of Curtis Yarvin, which you can read more about in this excellent New Yorker piece, follows closely the trajectory of Pluto’s entry into Aquarius in 2023-2024. Aquarius is one of the signs with a dual nature resulting from its rulership, in modern times, by two planets: Saturn as the traditional ruler, and Uranus as the modern ruler. Where Saturn prescribes rules and order, Uranus disrupts and breaks apart outmoded structures. Where Saturn is the scientist seeking clear and reasoned answers, Uranus is the brilliant inventor who discovers new ways to create the impossible.
Some of these new thinkers describe themselves as Anarcho-Capitalists. This hyphenation embraces both Uranus (anarchy) and Saturn (capitalism) in a unique way. A hyper-libertarian philosophy, it advocates for a stateless society and a completely free market. Anarcho-capitalists believe government is inherently coercive and that individual rights, especially property rights, are best protected through voluntary contracts and market competition. It’s not surprising that these movements originate in the tech industry which is ruled by Uranus, the planet of innovation.
The timing of the rise of this and other related philosophies is astrologically interesting. Just after Pluto entered Saturn-ruled Capricorn, Yarvin published a blog post that said “egalitarianism, far from improving the world, was actually responsible for most of its ills.” Capricorn is a sign of tradition and rather fears anything new, and under the Obama presidency latent fears involving race and social status endemic in the U.S. came to a frothy head. But it wasn’t until 2014, when Pluto opposed the U.S. Sun and began a series of Pluto transits revealing the dark underbelly of American fears and hatreds, that these ideas began to seep into the mainstream.
As a sign that advocates reason, Aquarius can lack compassion. Aquarius tells us that not everyone can be a champion. Some people are smarter than others. Not everyone is equally talented. These are ideas that are central to a derision of democracy which espouses equal rights and opportunities for everyone. This may seem surprising since Aquarius is associated with the ideals of the French Revolution (Uranus was discovered with Pluto in Aquarius at the dawn of the revolution) and there was a cold autocratic thread through the events of that time. During the Reign of Terror, anyone who did not fit the revolutionary political goals was executed.
I’m not, of course, predicting a new Reign of Terror. But the fact that someone who advocates a return to monarchy is getting so much press is a sign of the changing times. As the New Yorker says:
In another timeline, Yarvin might have remained an obscure and ineffectual internet crank, a digital de Maistre. Instead, he has become one of America’s most influential illiberal thinkers. … His work has revived ideas that once seemed outside the bounds of polite society, and created a road map for the dismantling of “the administrative state and the global postwar order.”
Unlike Capricorn which prizes dependable governmental structures, Aquarius is more libertarian, prizing personal liberties above the good of society. With Pluto now in Aquarius, the rise of libertarianism was easy to predict. Democracy certainly has its faults, and may not be the most effective form of government as it can be chaotic and unwieldy, and around the world faith in democracy is weakening. Whether libertarianism can coexist peacefully with democracy is a question which will be hotly debated while Pluto is in Aquarius (until 2043!!)
Anything on what is happening in Los Angeles?