Recently, the killing of Charlie Kirk has sparked intense reactions online, with an outpouring of tributes and condolences. Whether he is seen as an orator or a saint, Chinese internet users have expressed their sorrow, with some claiming his death symbolises the collapse of intellectual debate and the crumbling of Western democratic values. Others suggest his death could trigger a full-scale civil war.
When it comes to civil war, what comes to my mind is not A24’s film Civil War (Or, Who Do We Think We Are), but the concept of “global civil war” that Bifo articulated a decade ago in his work The Second Coming. Reading his discussions today, it’s hard not to feel surprised by his “prophecy,” which is why he is often regarded as one of the most insightful philosophers of this century.
Bifo noted, shortly after Trump’s first election victory, that a global civil war was already beginning to take shape. White workers—being the backbone of centre-left liberalism over a few decades—have begun to revolt against democracy and globalism out of fear of decline. Bifo argued that this conflict represents a clash between neoliberal globalists and anti-globalist nationalists, a confrontation that has escalated over the past ten years. The catastrophic outcome of a global civil war no longer seems far-fetched.
This war differs from past conflicts between empires. It is a widespread internal struggle among hostile families, tribes, populations, and religions driven by a thirst for vengeance. Workers, migrants, and the unemployed once had the basis for solidarity, but with the collapse of internationalism, the interests of Western white workers are increasingly at odds with those of the emerging Global South’s migrants, refugees, and unemployed populations. This divergence has led to conflict, opposition, and even endless life-and-death struggles—a trend increasingly apparent in the recent wave of global anti-immigration movements.
The will to vengeance is particularly striking in the US. The masses once subscribed to the neoliberal promise of individualism and the philosophy of winning, but they have been deceived. Neoliberalism has failed to deliver personal success. Impoverished white Americans are now living in cramped conditions, bereft of hope and imagination. What they crave is a restored sense of self-identity that makes them feel powerful again.
As neoliberal capitalism reaches its limits, its irreconcilable crises manifest as a global civil war: civil wars within the Western world (e.g., the Russia-Ukraine conflict) and between the Global North and Global South (with immigration and refugee issues at the forefront).
Once all possibilities for “commonality” are extinguished, what awaits us is the apocalyptic vision of global civil war. So Bifo said.