3 ms·
This article is interesting, partly due to the blatant political biases which are present but unrevealed, and partly due to the attempt to address those biases
by tristor 7y ago
This article is interesting, partly due to the blatant political biases which are present but unrevealed, and partly due to the attempt to address those biases in closing segments. This line in particular was telling "the state—the only way to address the most important issues of the present".
The author of this piece is a left-wing statist, and they interpret all of the data they reference through this lens. That does not mean that their conclusions are wrong in whole, as there's definitely some intriguing things in this article. Their ending statements are relatively on-point and don't align with any particular political leaning.
A good read, but unfortunately didn't tell me anything I didn't already know just from watching the news and paying attention.
Perhaps the most disappointing fact is that the author hinted at but failed to make the correct mental leap. This change in our society and economy is largely a result of globalism. Those in the top elites were able to improve their personal margins at the expense of the rest of the population by moving both production and knowledge work outside the bounds of the US, and in so doing increase the divide. The interaction of state-backed industrial interests in other countries and the anointing of new billionaires at their behest is not to be overlooked either.
I don't see any immediate solutions, as anything direct action will result in chaos, and anything taken slowly will not produce a positive effect in my lifetime. Like many other people in the professional class, my focus is on my own self-reliance and ensuring that I am not beholden to society any more than I must.
- hnuser77 7y agoThe state is the entity that signed all the free trade treaties in the first place — that enabled the outsourcing and let the production be moved out of the country — and still has the power to set tariffs and industrial policy. So the author's argument is that the only way to fix these problems is through state power.
- Miner49er 7y ago> The author of this piece is a left-wing statist How familiar are you with the author's work? I'm not familiar with it, but Wikipedia says they are a conservative and former Trump supporter. Most people seem to consider American Affairs a conservative journal, and the author is its editor.
- tristor 7y agoMaybe I overstated my case, then. I am not familiar with the author beyond this piece. This piece, though, shows a very deep disdain for anyone who could be considered conservative and blatantly makes the case for statism. So, perhaps they are not left-wing, merely a statist. I tend to think there are more than one way to skin a cat, and statism is not automatically the correct answer. Their direct statements disagree.
- look_lookatme 7y agoAuthor is saying that the state is where opportunity is best found at the moment due to all the reasons laid out in the article, which is quite good. It’s not a value judgement, just an observation.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- helen___keller 7y ago> The author of this piece is a left-wing statist, and they interpret all of the data they reference through this lens A statist perhaps, but not left-wing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Krein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Krein Self described conservative nationalist.
- TrackerFF 7y agoJulius Krein Harvard alumni Investment Banker (Bank of America) Private Equity (Blackstone) If that is not 0.1% background, then I don't know what is.