Re: <nettime> Anger in the Developed World

[mp <mp@aktivix.org>]

On the issue of "anger" I've been enjoying Pankaj Mishra's rather ranty
book (he is clearly working through his own):

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/297618/age-of-anger/

Any comments on the book, anyone?

On 02/07/18 17:00, Brian Holmes wrote:
> [ The following article from Project Syndicate is entitled Anger in
> America, but it would be better titled "Anger in the Developed World" -
> and by "developed" I mean countries such as Argentina and Mexico, not to
> mention the entire former East. All the societies currently at prey to
> neopopulism have been plundered by a complex class formation which
> includes the owners and political elites, for sure, but also many kinds
> of professionals and technical specialists (and probably you too, dear
> reader). Such "professional managerial classes" are *middle* classes in
> the sense that they stand between the elites and the increasingly
> dominated majorities. The time has come for their/our self-critique and
> transformation.
> 
> My view goes beyond the article below, because I think what's at stake
> is not reducible to economics, but engages the meaning and purpose of
> life. I totally agree with Felix: a politically guided transformation of
> the energy system is a concrete way to begin. Power is power in society.
> It is a technical function with cultural and existential consequences.
> Its mediation - which is an administrative problem as well as an
> engineering one - governs the way that people can shape their individual
> lives and generational destinies. And energy is just one particularly
> vivid example of the fields that can be transformed to provide, not only
> more economically equitable outcomes, but also more ecologically viable
> pathways for future development. There is just one prerequisite for
> doing this, dear reader - overcome your own suspicion, cynicism and
> self-interest. ]
> 
> 
> Anger in America
> by Andrew Sheng & Xiao Geng
> https://tinyurl.com/anger-in-the-developed-world
> 
> US President Donald Trump has exploited popular anger to advance his own
> interests, but he did not create that anger. America’s elites have spent
> decades doing that, creating the conditions for a figure like Trump to
> emerge.
> 
> HONG KONG--Many blame today’s populist rebellion in the West on the far
> right, which has won votes by claiming to be responding to working-class
> grievances, while stoking fear and promoting polarization. But, in
> blaming leaders who have seized on popular anger, many overlook the
> power of that anger itself, which is aimed at elites whose wealth has
> skyrocketed in the last 30 years, while that of the middle and working
> classes has remained stagnant.
> 
> Two recent analyses get to the heart of the issues at play, particularly
> in the United States, but also in the rest of the world. In his new book
> Tailspin, the journalist Steven Brill argues that US institutions are no
> longer fit for purpose, because they protect only the few and leave the
> rest vulnerable to predatory behavior in the name of the free market.
> According to Brill, this is an upshot of America’s meritocracy: the best
> and brightest had the chance to climb to the top, but then essentially
> pulled the ladder up behind them, as they captured democratic
> institutions and used them to entrench special privileges for themselves.
> 
> The author Matthew Stewart agrees, arguing that, "the meritocratic class
> has mastered the old trick of consolidating wealth and passing privilege
> along at the expense of other people’s children." Stewart shows that in
> the mid-1980s, the share of US wealth held by the bottom 90% of the
> population peaked at 35%; three decades later, they owned just 20%, with
> almost all of what they lost going to the top 0.1%. The 9.9% between
> these two groups--what Stewart calls the "new American
> aristocracy"--comprises what used to be called the middle class. In
> 1963, the 90% would have had to increase their wealth sixfold to reach
> the level of the 9.9%; by the 2010s, they would need 25 times their
> wealth to reach that level.
> 
> Much of the US population is working harder than ever, yet has suffered
> a decline in living standards, compounded by high levels of household
> debt and, in many cases, lack of health insurance. The top 10% have easy
> access to higher education that will enable their children to have the
> same privileges as them; the bottom 90% must work much harder to cover
> sky-high tuition fees, and typically graduate with a heavy debt burden.
> The top 10% receive first-rate medical care; the bottom 90% often do
> not, or must pay an exceptionally high price for it.
> 
> Taxation is supposed to level the playing field. But US Republicans have
> long pushed to lower taxes on the rich, arguing that lowering marginal
> tax rates will promote investment, employment, and economic growth,
> which will cause the wealth to "trickle down" to the rest of society. In
> fact, tax cuts for the rich merely further entrench their advantages,
> exacerbating inequality.
> 
> Making matters worse, the poor pay more indirect taxes (on land, real
> estate, and consumer goods), and the bottom 20% of the US population
> pays more than twice what the top 1% pays in state taxes. Add to that
> the challenges posed by automation and robotization, not to mention
> increasingly frequent and intense natural disasters, and it is not hard
> to see why so many people are so furious.
> 
> According to Stewart, the 9.9% is "the staff that runs the machine that
> funnels resources from the 90% to the 0.1%," happily taking its "cut of
> the spoils." But the inequality that this machine generates can have
> serious consequences, as it spurs social discontent and, as we are
> seeing in the US today, erratic policymaking. As the Austrian historian
> Walter Scheidel argues, inequality has historically been countered
> through war, revolution, state collapse, or natural disaster.
> 
> Avoiding such a dramatic event would require the 10% to do a much better
> job of advancing the interests of the 90%, in terms of income, wealth,
> welfare, and opportunities. Yet a combination of economic myopia and
> political polarization has led many instead to try to divert popular
> anger toward immigrants, China, and trade (including with close allies).
> As a result, the entire world is now caught in an escalating
> protectionist war that nobody will win.
> 
> It is true that, historically, internal contradictions and imbalances
> have often led to interstate conflict. But that is not inevitable.
> Rather, the outcome depends on the quality of leadership. In the US, for
> example, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt
> succeeded in strengthening their country because they recognized the
> need to address internal divisions in the light of America’s core
> values, global position, and long-term goals.
> 
> US President Donald Trump has exploited popular anger to advance his own
> interests. But he did not create that anger; America’s elites have spent
> decades doing that, creating the conditions for a figure like Trump to
> emerge. Now that Trump is in charge, the conditions of the 90% are set
> to deteriorate further. His approach to trade, in particular, will not
> only fail to help the people he purports to represent; it will also
> destroy the sense of fairness and stewardship that has historically
> bound the masses to their leaders.
> 
> Blaming outsiders is politically expedient. But the only way to "make
> America great again" is by addressing its internal injustices. No import
> tariff or border wall can do that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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