The triangle of extremes
In a world that is increasingly fascinating and dangerous, whereby the most beautiful promises coexist with the worst threats; during this summer time, while a pause that is infinitely brief settles before the endless streams of fake news, shoddy scandals, neglected great discoveries and discarded acts of bravery resume, there is still time to calmly observe the strange geometry of forces that threaten democracy today.
It is nothing but, a priori, a very normal observation: three forces, which are a priori unrelated to each other, and relatively powerless separately, are in the process of overtaking the powers in place by their alliance, implicit at first, but also explicit when it becomes possible.
The first force brings together all the proponents of the nationalist right-wings, hostile to the ruling class and taxed with frenzied globalism, xenophobic (or, at least, hostile to any non-European presence on their soil), supporters of a strong government, willingly close to the circles that are most threatened by modernity, and reliant on regional movements.
The second force brings together all the most radical leftists, hostile to capitalism and to the financial elites, the technocrats that are supposed to serve them and the frantic globalization of the markets, and reliant on globalist movements such as human rights and environmental movements that are hostile to capitalism.
The third force is of a very different nature, because it brings together, on social networks, those who, frequently protected by anonymity, insult, assault, slander, mock, insult, threaten, all those who whether near or far, have the least ounce of power, celebrity or influence.
These three forces have a priori nothing to do together or with each other. They are, nonetheless, united against essential matters, such as the attitude towards money and democracy, capitalism, migrants, ecology, globalization, xenophobia. However, more and more, these forces are allies and triumphant in various circumstances, thus creating what I call here, “the triangle of extremes.”
In the United States, these forces were discovered at the end of the campaign, in support of Trump, against the establishment that represented Hillary Clinton. In Great Britain, these forces allied to form the coalition that won in the referendum on Brexit. In Italy, their alliance led to the ascendance of an unnatural coalition between the League and Five Star movement. The same path is found in Austria, Hungary and Poland.
In France, these three powers had remained openly opposed, until strangely we’ve recently found them allied during a ridiculous controversy; united in the mad hope of bringing down power, without having the slightest idea of what they would do, together or separately, if they succeeded.
And tomorrow? Will these powers continue to oppose and insult each other? Or will they unite more and more openly? In fact, if they feel that together they can put an end to what each one indistinctly labels "the system," they will unite, hoping, deep down, that the other two are only “useful idiots” for them.
Experience shows that “useful idiots” are usually on the left wing and true winners usually on the right wing. In reality, in all cases, the true losers are the democratic regimes.
Because, basically, what these three forces really have in common is not only the hatred of the ruling classes, but the hatred of democracy and what it implies: the compromise, the half-measure, nuance, and tolerance vis-à-vis the point of view of others.
If we want to prevent them from triumphing, and prevent the triangle from imposing its laws, there is only one solution: do everything so that the elite remains open, so that everyone can have access to the various forms of power; so that, disappointed cohorts may never have an interest in allying themselves against endogamous leaders, cut off from people, their values and their dreams.
j@attali.com
Program Director - Corp. Digital Transformation - ERP - SAP S4/Hana
6yI personally fail to see a triangle here : the third leg is in my view the result of the activities of the first two. In the sense that I don’t believe that there is a political intention of the social networks’ owners or management (at least for now): left and right wings activists were simply the very first to understand how to use them, taking advantage of the anonymity to spread propaganda, as they used to do it before, but on a larger scale. With this exception, I fully agree with Jacques Attali’s concerns. And to me, the question of anonymity on the web must be raised, should we care for the sake of democracies.
Medical Devices Professional
6yThe extreme left panders to those who have nothing and promises everything, with poor results, often cheating the poorest. The extreme right honestly cheats the poorest and supports the rich and powerful. A democracy must serve all people. Rules and regulations, common expectations of civility are required for government to function. Chaos is destructive. A democracy requires an educated and informed public that seeks to nurture the planet and the next generation with a sense of hope and respect for the traditions and sacrifices of those who came before. Bravo Jacques!
Cyber Expertise, Risk and Compliance Director at Equans
6yWhat if the elite harnessed the power of media and social networks for the purpose of a marketing strategy, something like « clientelism 2.0 », that would go like this: 1) identify blocks in the opinion that are not likely to change their vote and ignore them, 2) identify minorities with simple and cheap demands and tell them what they want to hear, just enough to bow the needle over 50% 3) enjoy your absolute majority and get back to business as usual. Would that contribute to the situation you describe? Is this democracy hijacking? Is it wrong since Trump/Brexit/Cambridge Analytica? Was it already wrong when it was Macron, Hollande, Obama?
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6yWell put Mr Attali. The first pole, as described by you, has now the power in Italy, Hungary and Austria. The second pole has it in Venezuela with the result we know. But, last but not least, the third pole is in some way already at power in USA, diffusing « hatred, insult, mockery, threat ... » not even anonymously, but directly from WH setting the tone on international stage. The three poles are gaining pace around the western world because what is now lacking is the stabilizing basis of the democraties, as we knew them between 1950 and 2010: the huge and increasing size of the middle class. This size eroded in western countries between 1980 and 2010, as Thomas Piketty has well shown. At the same time it increased in India and China which now appear as the new poles of stability. It seems we need to rebuild this large middle class. We could start by a better education for the poorest and more taxes for the wealthiest. We could stop decreasing corporate taxes around the world and relaunch the war against tax evasion and non cooperative tax juridictions. On an international level, why not create a new level of arbitration court under UN authority for states who go out of treaties on the incredible pretext that voters wanted so. All right, a state can tear a treaty signed by predecessors, as you can tear an insurance contract, but if you do so you should pay something, penalties, to your counterparts ( including Iran JCPOA), or to the whole community if it is an international agreement ( Paris Cop 21 ) in order to deter such behaviour, to compensate the damage done and also to sweeten the hard feelings. To install all this, we have to wait until november 2020, but minds could be prepared, couldn’t they Mr Attali ?
COBOL Business Rules Expertise
6yThe more Technology and Law bring sense, vision, access, ... the more billionaire bullies wake up to bark against it. It feels dark greedy selfish families living throughout the world can't pull our muppet strings as easily as they did for decades anymore. It seems the only way they have to carry on with their shadow greedy schemes ripping off the world (climate change, fossil fuels industries, ...) is to help Populist governments to reach power everywhere.