Weaponised bravery, institutionalised cowardice as the engine of authoritarianism

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*

The insidious politics of crony capitalism is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, aided by the reckless expansion of artificial intelligence and other technologies designed not to liberate but to dominate, domesticate, and dehumanise societies. Alongside this, an illiberal politics of cowardice is emerging—serving as an accomplice to dehumanisation amid growing imperialist wars and conflicts across the world. Death in distant lands no longer stirs conscience. The push-button culture of digital screens has transformed social media into a disconnected, individualised, Hobbesian space, where the puritan pursuit of self-interest is elevated as the essence of human existence.

In this condition, the hollowness of social life and the alienation of individuals are normalised as personal problems, stripped of their social, cultural, religious, economic, and political roots—roots fundamentally shaped by capitalism. Performance replaces creativity; profit replaces meaningful engagement. Mutual understanding and collective consciousness retreat, while civic space erodes under the politics of cowardice. Secular and scientific convictions are dismissed as weakness, while monetisation of time, a culture of performance, and exploitative compliance are celebrated as success.

Politics itself is hollowed out. Moral and ideological convictions give way to project-driven policymaking, where propaganda masquerades as governance. Progressive ideals of liberty, equality, and justice are branded utopian, dismissed as pacifism of the weak. Politics becomes a tool of the powerful, breeding wars and conflicts to serve ruling-class interests. Nationalism is reframed as the justification for sacrifice, where risks are socialised but the safety of elites is secured. War becomes theatre, glorified as bravery, while idealistic youth are sacrificed to protect elite interests in the name of sovereignty.

Weaponised bravery is, in truth, cowardice. There is no courage in standing beneath a bomb or killing with the touch of a screen. To take life is not bravery—it is cowardice that normalises violence and entrenches barbarism. The politics of cowardice produces authoritarian leadership devoid of reason and accountability, governing through fear and “othering.” Reactionary forces divide people by caste, race, class, gender, sexuality, and nationalism to sustain exploitation.

Culture, too, is absorbed into this exploitative system. Consumerism replaces moral outrage with pragmatism, branding compromise as survival skill. Collective cultures are dismantled, replaced by insidious individualism. Everyday consumption of “utility, pleasure, and satisfaction” becomes a quasi-religious pursuit of self-actualisation, breeding dehumanisation and dismantling collective foundations of happiness.

Religion, institutionalised and domesticated, reinforces capitalism. Spiritual practices are reduced to customs that serve governing classes. Labor is domesticated, creativity stifled, and value extracted without benefit to workers. Religion cushions capitalism, absorbing its crises and deflecting challenges.

All institutions—families, schools, universities, governments, judiciaries, prisons—discipline labor and domesticate individuals. Everyday choices of food, dress, study, and prayer are conditioned by systemic processes that align individuals with goals not their own. Breaking free requires radical consciousness and recognition of the interconnectedness of human lives.

Ultimately, individuals are trapped within patriarchal, feudal, and capitalist structures, blamed for society’s evils while merely struggling for survival. From pragmatism to performance culture, these systems domesticate and undermine collective foundations of life. Capitalism produces cowardice, erodes ideals, and kills the collective spirit of humanity.

It is imperative to reclaim the collective foundations of freedom—so that individuals may truly pursue their dreams, desires, and lives.

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*Academic based in UK

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