“Sort things before they're messed up” – Laozi, Daodejing

In case you're still blissfully unaware, accelerationism is the idea that we can only repair our society by breaking it first. The thinking goes that things have to get even worse before people will come together to fix them. Following this logic, it makes sense to accelerate the decay of our existing institutions as a strategy to force change.

The concept of accelerationism is not linked to one specific ideology. In recent years it has become notorious because of its adoption by a series of far-right terrorists. I don't want to dwell on these idiots though. Their entire premise is heinous and stupid, so it should surprise no one that their adopted strategies are likewise.

The accelerationist mindset poses much bigger problems on the left. There it has been ever present going back all the way to Karl Marx. He promoted the idea that capitalism would implode in a sequence of intensifying crises. This collapse would then make space for an era of socialist harmony. The practical details of this process he kept intentionally vague.

Unfortunately that is not how social change works. Systemic collapse does not create an egalitarian blank slate. In the real world, chaos favours the prepared. Poor and downtrodden people are barely capable to cope with the present, let alone prepare for an uncertain future. So while a big crisis might bring down a sizable chunk of the established order, those best placed to benefit from it will invariably stem from some section of the current elites.

As a progressive leftist, it therefore makes no sense to try and bring down the existing structures before we have a viable alternative in place. Because without an alternative, social turmoil will just make things worse for the people that need our help.