Democracy is cringe, read some Aristotle

This essay takes the notion of “democracy as cringe” as a jumping-off point for examining some undercurrents in far-right and accelerationist rhetorics. Using the concept of cringe, I trace how contemporary anti-democratic rhetorics are embedded in a larger struggle over description: not conflicting descriptions of democracy, but a struggle over the role of description itself. In considering how rhetoricians may respond to “cringe democracy,” I seek to leave aside the task of defending democracy and instead make a case for becoming-democratic through practices of descriptive futurities.