Suicide of the West and the rest

Tribalism, populism, and rising inequality threaten modernity, democracy, and shared prosperity in America.

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In the 17th century, a magnificent development occurred: The Glorious Revolution of 1688. This development ended what Thomas Hobbes referred to as a brutish, nasty and short period of human history. Why did it happen? It was the result of enlightened liberal values and social evolution that allowed ideas to be accepted on a broader level. It rang the death knell for the tribalistic and dark nature of humans. It was a miracle. Even more miracle was that America cherished the right to life, property and liberty after the Glorious Revolution. All this happened because of moderate human values with a liberal emphasis. This was the early modern organised social and political system that the humanity encountered. We are again in suicide mode to return back to the era of peculiar and uncontained challenges.

Post WW-II introduced neoliberalism. In the early 1990s, neoliberalism was based on cooperative competence, shared competence and a globalised economy. In those years of celebrating virtues of growth, innovation and shared prosperity, humanity addressed historical problems of poverty and underdevelopment. The result was Chinese Shock and commercial capitalism. Commercial capitalism, without essential checks and balances, brought a surge of economic insecurity for the majority. For example, everything from affording a movie at the cinema to purchasing clothes is arranged by money sophistication. A person with daily income of $5 to $10 cannot afford to watch a movie in the cinema. The consumption of goods from the majority class is squeezed. Unless the lower-middle and middle-middle classes contribute to circular economic activity, capitalism face off over a continuum of growth. When capitalism doesn't work, it strains economic outputs for the lower and middle income streams. As a result, populists exploit the fault lines of capitalism, liberalism and economic theory.

Following the democratic backlash, tribalism is once again on the rise. Left-wing identity politics, Trumpian nationalism and the populist rejection of liberal institutions threaten the miracle of modernity on all sides. This very modernity brought commercial capitalism, growth and miraculous prosperity. Alexis de Tocqueville regarded it as a development of individuality - engaging the public in active participation for rights and voting. More modernity, more political freedom and participation.

With all the preceding events, the emergence of Trump and his allies among the global rich, like Elon Musk, for reform will create new risks and new problems for democracy: the combustible, corrupt oligarchy. Aristocracy is natural and necessary, but it must be subject to limits. Anti-establishment sentiments are on the rise across the West. The public mood has soured, and elites are increasingly in the firing line. That's a problem. Contrary to popular belief, there's nothing inherently wrong with elitism. Even aristocracies can be meritocratic. In a true aristocracy, it's not your title that gives you a right to power but your proven excellence.

All this is happening in America today. Tribalism, identity politics, anti-establishment sentiment and the aristocratic divide could turn America into a global dilemma. Collectively, all of this can be seen in the emergence of Trump. Trump essentialises identity. It reduces people to just one of their traits. For example, white American supremacy. One lens to see Americanism. The miracle that began was based on equality. Now, this miracle is crumbling - equality is crumbling.

Through unfettered deregulation for growth, democratic slash and a return to tribalistic instincts, we are creating an incompetence gyre, a dying institution and global frustration. Considering the upcoming climate change and Mars colonisation, we need to overhaul our egos and rethink how we can achieve integrative, shared prosperity through democracy, innovation and institutional checks.