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That is a great question. I think spending time to think about how to best answer that question is probably the best thing one can do to prevent similar events
by inputcoffee 9y ago
That is a great question.
I think spending time to think about how to best answer that question is probably the best thing one can do to prevent similar events.
We are in the middle of this strange global event and you can tell from the profusion of explanations that no one knows what the reason is.
-- loss of confidence in institutions?
-- wealth gap?
-- tech enabled cultural sabotage?
-- "globalization"?
And so on. I think people don't even know why it is happening yet. There is a lot of cognitive labor ahead.
- Mikeb85 9y agoThe reasons are pretty clear. Some just refuse to acknowledge them.
- inputcoffee 9y agoWell, don't keep us in suspense. What do you think the reasons are for... first, describe the phenomenon under discussion because I think that is the first challenge.
- Mikeb85 9y agoGlobalisation and immigration have weakened the relative wealth of the working classes. The left refuses to acknowledge the problem while the right (and far right) does, so guess where that leads?
- egeozcan 9y agoI couldn't guess it. No, I'm not being sarcastic.
- Mikeb85 9y agoRead someone like Piketty. He has tons of data to back up the assertion that the working classes are losing relative wealth. Then take an economics course. Realise that globalisation outsources manufacturing, agriculture, services, etc..., lowering costs, but also lowering wages. This is by design. The 'Information' industry in the west was supposed to make up for the loss of blue collar jobs. Except it hasn't. And then also realise that immigration increases the size of the workforce, especially the uneducated workforce. Again, downward pressure on wages. Personally I think progressive economics provides a better solution than the regressive protectionism of the right. Except the left pretends there's no problem, and here we are.
- inputcoffee 9y agoJust so you know: HN doesn't let people downvote responses to their own comments. However, in the context here, you think that: Erdogan swept into power because the working class in Turkey has been "weakened" by immigration and globalization?
- Mikeb85 9y agoMy account is 4 years old, I know the first detail. Second, the parent of your comment was about right-wing parties rising in Hungary and Poland.
- inputcoffee 9y agoSo you think the "populist" forces at work in Turkey are not the same as those in Hungary and Poland? Are they the same as those in the US? or Syria? I am asking because I think most writers think of these as part of a larger global movement, but your comments suggest you think they are different.
- Mikeb85 9y agoNo, they're not. Populist forces in the west are intrinsically linked to the collapse of blue collar industries and jobs as well as forced immigration, and aren't necessarily nationalist, it's more a reaction against the status quo. In Turkey and the Middle East Islamism has been rising, partly due to the collapse of Arab nationalism and partly due to Saudi Arabia's worldwide propagation of Wahhabism.
- sft 9y agoNot going to use my normal id because I'm fully aware I'll get laughed at, but it's clear to myself and a lot of people who may have knowledge of these things that a divine plan is at work.