Transactive and Performative binary politics

 

While neoliberal capitalist value system has nurtured and fueled transactive politics the conscientious binary is consolidated as performative politics. The performative posturing that seeks to protect the marginalized as also idealized values that strive for equitable society. This binary is taken to extreme in countries like USA where transactive value finds opportunism in majoritarian backlash against performative posturing that is reduced to parody. Crave for power by elite section is the common factor. These extremes get into tight compartment offering no space for common people’s aspirations and long term consequences that matter while fractures widen. Mutative politics of Trump played the extreme, or else, devious play of politics shifts from transactive to performative as the opportunism presents. 

Check what is happening in Britain -erstwhile colonizer that had embryonic influence on democratic aspirations of many countries across the world, and continues to have significant influence due to its exaggerated post colonial influence and reach. The absolute contempt for common people (the latest being Starmer -Schrodinger's cabbage!) can be traced to feudal values and regressive institutions on which its so-called democracy is built. Performative and transactive politics work on this foundational framework. This unfortunately had debilitating impact on fledgling democracies across the world. Feudal values influence blatant nepotism and wanton corruption, and general disregard for democratic institutions further incapacitated by egalitarian norm’s incapability to percolate into primitive society. Democracy is reduced to performance suffused in predatory transactive values celebrated as success.

Transactive value system consolidate as market professionalism of ruthless objective deal, therefore competence, hence seen as engine of development and prosperity. The lack of complexity easily sides with majoritarianism as opportunism, finds fertile ground for consolidating success with majoritarian right and conservative concerns. Value system primed in market greed locates easiest available pattern for gain. It just has to trigger collective primal fears and grander claims and aspirations mostly based on fiction of religion and exceptionalism of mythical past -carefully constructed exaggerations from redacted history manipulated into contemporary context. Performative value system meanwhile exaggerates the identity of beleaguered to gain traction to represent as egalitarian idealized force -hence align strongly with left or secular socialist concerns. Instead for genuine involvement -that needs long term understanding, the posturing search for easy collective, the performance therefore becomes pernicious with lowest denominator to gain attention. Worst kind of people pose as minority to usurp benefits thus weakening institutions further, as also negating crucial issues like racism, gender and environment. While these historical injustices still embed institutions (as feudal institutions are normalized) and left to fester and used as showcase for empathy, the possibilities of democracy leading to better world is thwarted. With the rise of social media, and with it general superficiality, the binary gets consolidated into extreme, and therefore becomes easy for majoritarian values to consolidate and gain traction. This is happening in democratic societies all across the world. Meanwhile performative idealism is easy to expose, and are viciously reacted upon. The backlash creates worst situation for vulnerable and marginalized. So not only democracies are becoming less vibrant but also alarmingly withering from seams. Transactive values fueled development lack percolation of democracy leading to extreme gap in prosperity and poverty further accentuated by feudal values that nurture corruption, nepotism and exploitation. Performative politics is now a parody that has severely impacted democratic institutions, with it the possibilities for better future. The promise of liberty and freedom stands diminished in binary politics of posturing. Restricting feudal institutions, deconstructing regressive systems, its normalizing through transactive politics, while nurturing grassroot democracy and protecting individual liberty and freedom of expression. Transactive and performative values have short shelf life when reality strikes.