Imperativo Caligula: How the oligarchic cartel in ‘Discounted … By a Lightning Strike!’ uses its Neo-reactionary ideology to dismantle rule of law and democracy in Europe and elsewhere through a series of financial crashes and ‘soft-coups’ (fiction).


Before diving into the details, let us consider what Imperativo Caligula is.

In the thriller Discounted … By a Lightning Strike!’, Imperativo Caligula is a cartel of six very powerful criminal oligarchs (technically seven if you include the ultimate master) who impose their rule upon the rest of the population by establishing a tech-oligarchy. Three of its members originate from within Europe, the other three come from dictatorships elsewhere. Yet what drives them, besides a complete distaste for humanity and a desire to dominate everyone else, creating a new ‘aristocracy’?

First and foremost, they completely reject the French Revolution and its ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity. According to their ideology, these are mere inefficient impediments to their version of projected ‘progress’. At the same time, much of these ideals gave rise to the democracies as we know them today. Ironically, they have a militant ruthlessness to them that would make Napoleon jealous.

Yet what makes Imperativo Caligula so dangerous?

There are several reasons why they are a serious threat. The first one is that they use every weakness in the existing neoliberal consensus. They do so under the assumption that this consensus put much of continental Europe at the brink of economic collapse in 2008 following the Global Financial Crisis and has left all kinds of unresolved problems which remain unsolved as a result of questionable assumptions (perfect rationality, the market accounts for all information, more is always better). So how much did this crisis cost us? Exactly, that is still unclear and has been difficult to estimate, though conservatively estimated, the amount runs into several  trillion Euros.  This creates a void, causing resentment and a breeding ground for radical populism.

What else? 

Flagrant human rights abuses, state capture, tax evasion, organised crime, corruption, bribery: Imperativo Caligula masters all these things. These are again the result of gaps in the neoliberal framework, and are every dictators dream. Yet where these gaps mere coincidence?

A closer look at the origins of neoliberalism reveals that this framework originally originated in Chile. The first regime to adopt this model with brute force, was the military junta of General Augusto Pinochet following a military coup on 11 September 1973 (the other 9/11), with a government that comprised of little more than the leader and the secret service (sounds familiar?).

At the same time, it was precisely here where the neoliberal framework was credited for having modernised the country and delivered on its promises. The implication of such a conclusion is that the neoliberal consensus is, more than rational, rationalistic/Apollonian in nature: it (almost) exclusively values  whatever emerges in the sphere of the market based on rational decision-making and projects this onto every aspect of life, which could be seen as a deviation with regard to human nature and essentially subverts rule of law to make capitalism an ultimate end, rather than the other way around. 

The fact that it worked well and was initiated in such a ruthless regime, is a solid ground for questioning the ability of this consensus to contain the risks posed by modern-day dictators if they are identified as undesirable in the first place.

What about inalienable rights of the individual, integrity of the person, safety and security?
Consider that these are not just hollow terms, they have been enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Kaylon, the protagonist, notices these Rights and tries to formulate a version of Capitalism that not only tolerates these aspects of life, but actively defends them. His attempt to calibrate the existing framework into this direction is not only a personal ambition, it is what makes the difference between saving democratic capitalism or a transition towards a much feared tech-oligarchy based on a somewhat narrow version of the ‘Ubermensch’. 

Both Kaylon and Imperativo Caligula members refer to Nietzsche as a main source of inspiration, the question is which interpretation of the Ubermensch prevails: The oligarchic aristocrat who devours democracy and creates chaos (the Caligulae), or the calibrated man with both master and slave-like qualities (Kaylon).

So will Kaylon succeed? The answer largely depends on his ability to balance the values of the Ancièn Regime with those of the French Revolution and rediscover true liberalism as his way of being before Imperativo Caligula deals its fatal blow …

If Kaylon  succeeds, Calibrated Capitalism becomes a fact and puts forward a new consensus that could help Europe move forward in decades to come.