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In the 1800s after even after Napoleon there were sporadic uprisings scattered through Europe and around the world, especially in the 1830s and 40s. The Franco-

In the 1800s after even after Napoleon there were sporadic uprisings scattered through Europe and around the world, especially in the 1830s and 40s. The Franco-Prussina war was a prelude to WWI. Brits fought Russians, Turks fought Russians, Spain had multiple civil wars, Germans fought each other constantly. Even the US had a civil war. And the seeds for 1914's WWI did not suddenly appear in the 14 years of the 20th century before it. >...is not even remotely in the league of anything in the past. Not even close... I wish this were the case. And while Brexit is only one referendum, possibly recoverable, the Front National, AfD, PVV and Trump use rhetoric that is completely indistinguishable for Eastern and Southern European fascism of the 1920s. Some of it is verbatim quotes translated. And the economic policies of these parties will only worsen the economic well being of the electorate angering them further. We can keep making optimistic guesses about the next score years but there is also more realistic outcome: We do not in fact live in a magic time at the end of history. The post WWII (relative) peace is not remotely an inevitable state of affairs. It is an incredibly delicate thing maintained by moderate democratic global nurturing. Inept leaders set on dissolving alliances and treaties combined with aggressive rhetoric and random hostilities executed solely to excite a demagogue's support base could break that peace in any of a dozen powder kegs world wide faster than the bullet that killed prince Ferdinand. Indeed, if NATO weakens enough, as many on the far-right wish, and Putin starts loosing popularity, god help the Baltic states.

james-watson 10y ago
Usurious leaders who savagely exploit the majority of the population to the benefit of their oligarch friends are the single most dangerous threat to peace. I wonder why people have such a hard time understanding this? The unholy alliance of elite finance, elite academia, and elite multinationals have ground the average citizen into nothingness. Nationalists, protectionists and populists are a very predictable and rational response. I understand that HN's population skews heavily elite, but I am constantly perplexed by the confusion of the commenters regarding basic causality. Massive institutional collusion leads to populist uprisings. The sun also rises in the east. Perhaps the elites truly believed their own propaganda about how they are the job creators, the messiahs, the shepherds of the lowlife scum that clean their sewers and take out their garbage? It is indeed the case that the best liars are the best at lying to themselves. The elites needed a wake up call. Trump was the first, but he will not be the last. If he doesn't reverse the fate of the downtrodden electorate, he will be tarred and feathered along with the rest of his oligarch friends. Piketty and countless others have written ad nauseam about this very issue, but few of the elite are willing to part with their precious billions. So we get what we have today.

james-watson 10y ago

Usurious leaders who savagely exploit the majority of the population to the benefit of their oligarch friends are the single most dangerous threat to peace. I wonder why people have such a hard time understanding this? The unholy alliance of elite finance, elite academia, and elite multinationals have ground the average citizen into nothingness. Nationalists, protectionists and populists are a very predictable and rational response. I understand that HN's population skews heavily elite, but I am constantly perplexed by the confusion of the commenters regarding basic causality. Massive institutional collusion leads to populist uprisings. The sun also rises in the east. Perhaps the elites truly believed their own propaganda about how they are the job creators, the messiahs, the shepherds of the lowlife scum that clean their sewers and take out their garbage? It is indeed the case that the best liars are the best at lying to themselves. The elites needed a wake up call. Trump was the first, but he will not be the last. If he doesn't reverse the fate of the downtrodden electorate, he will be tarred and feathered along with the rest of his oligarch friends. Piketty and countless others have written ad nauseam about this very issue, but few of the elite are willing to part with their precious billions. So we get what we have today.