Perhaps, because by now enough people feel a real impact on their life and fear for the ruling classes is not there anymore?
Just a few examples from direct, personal experience (I am German, so what I enumerate has a German/Euro perspective):
Constitutional state? Does not matter, as long as powerful/influential people can literally buy laws or prevent even discussion of laws in the parliament
Easy way to figure out who is favored by one law, is to check who has to prove something and how hard it is to prove
Best part about this is, people in power can always point out to the law and that ‘we’ agreed upon that law
Systematic discrimination against the worker class/people not owning things: Thing about laws, taxes, …
Every media has an agenda and is propaganda (In the west, propaganda means mostly being selective about the information presented and how to build the narrative. Only idiots in the west will outright lie about things. It also means, who gets to talk in the media, where to position news (headlines ore somewhere else) etc. Media are owned by rich people or the state owned media are controlled by people with strong affinity to political parties
Corruption on all but the lowest levels, especially in the government (In Germany corruption on the lowest level is uncommon und has a high penalty, but go up the level a little bit and ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’)
Nepotism on all but the lowest levels (Worked in many different companies and the bigger the company the worse it gets. Working class kid does not get an intern position although it would technically be the best choice? No worries, some kid with the right parents and no clue will have that opportunity.
No feedback loops: In Germany, we have professional politics which have extremely good conditions for their pension, whose children do not visit public schools and who have private health care decide, what in their opinion is appropriate for most of the people in the country concerning this things…
No real political influence: We just had the clown-show of voting. Guess what, I can only vote between Nazis and non-Nazis. Can I vote for more taxes for the rich, a sane economic agenda which not benefits the rich, and full military support for the Ukraine? Sorry, I am out of luck. Of course I am free to build my own party. Let’s see how successful that is without massive investment of money and good connections to the ruling classes to get positive media coverage.
Before the eastern block fell apart, at least in Europe/Germany, there was always the fear of the ruling class to experience another (French)revolution. Since this fear is gone, they literally have nothing to fear…
Is it possible to change anything about the situation? I am more than cynical by now:
Most everyone is struggling to keep their level of wealth/position in society, so the middle class fights hard to be a little bit better of then the lower class, don’t even mention the upper middle class, which fights with nails and teeth for every little advantage and privilege they have
The higher you go in hierarchies, the more sycophants you’ll discover, which don’t mind selling out other humans for status/privileges, and there are even true believers, so brainwashed by neoliberal agenda, that they will fight for the privileges of rich folk they will never belong to
There is no way to organize enough people in real life to force any political change (especially not with an aging population)
The ruling class figured out for a long time in western world, that instead of fighting facts/the truth, they just have to generate more bullshit, discussions, alternative narratives and lean back, because people will discuss and not agree
Nearly all change to the status quo is opposed and fought by some group, which benefits from the status quo
Neoliberal propaganda and views are so ubiquitous and pervasive in our media, stories, etc., that a lot of people cannot even think about alternatives any more.
That’s just for the western world, let’s not start about the dictatorships/regimes supported by western governments with money, weapons and knowledge, where things are even more shitty.
Of the views expressed here, yours is the one I believe is most accurate and insightful.
I disagree, however, that it’s hopeless. I think the pivot is this claim:
“There is no way to organize enough people in real life to force any political change (especially not with an aging population)”
There is a way. We just need an honest signal that can coordinate the behavior of the genuinely good people, who currently are fighting each other in opposing political parties (etc), rather than uniting to fight their oppressors. Public key cryptography will let us trust that the signal hasn’t been tampered with, despite the oligarchs owning the communication channels. We just need to find a way to make the signal loud enough, trustworthy enough and able to break through the current haze of disinformation that’s making us fight eachother.
Though this sounds hard, but it will get easier with time. As the system collapses, dissatisfaction with current ideologies will increase and motivate the collective search for a new, honest signal to unite around.
Perhaps the most valuable thing we can do now is research alternative, less corruptible, more egalitarian, more sustainable systems. We need to have an ideal to replace the current mess with when it crumbles. Otherwise the current power holders will simply ride out the anarchy, put on a different hat and continue to exploit.
Accuracy for the western world and for an academic who comes from the working class. Most people I work with are academics and see things different, because they could always afford a lawyer and/or had and have connections themselves. Their whole life and lived experience tells them another truth.
I feel sad, that I have to disagree with you on the honest signal, I see several problems here:
Define ‘disinformation’: There are obvious black-is-white lies, but most propaganda in the west is not ‘disinformation’, it is simply emphasizing the facts that favor your point of view. If you add another signal, you are just one more signal producing propaganda (although most probably I would be very happy with your propaganda)
Cryptography … even IT people have trouble understanding this, and even worse: You cannot solve a social problem with technology
‘good people’ - a handful philosophers in the west alone had a very thorough discourse about ‘good’ over the last centuries. The discussion is still going on. ;-)
One of the most important insights is, that it is harder for a group of people to agree than for a few to take power and enforce it. If this wouldn’t be a human/social truth, our western societies wouldn’t be such a shit show by now.
IMHO one of the roots of the problem is how humans are wired and how bigger societies develop in a sociological way. The best way we have found (so far) is democracy, and AFAIK especially democracy with a mostly even wealth distribution (see the northern countries of Europe). AFAIK it is a social rule, that as soon as a group gets bigger, subgroups will be built. It is a human rule that attractive people will be treated better than non attractive one, you will want to help your friends even when it comes at a cost for someone you don’t even know or dislike.
My recipe would be a more even wealth distribution and a way to stop the wealthy force others to do labor for them. Thanks to police and military, I have the strong feeling, the ones with the guns and military will win.
p.s.: I recommend the following books if the topic interests you:
The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
The Established and the Outsiders: A Sociological Enquiry into Community Problems
This post is the most accurate representation of modern world society I have ever encountered posted on social media, full stop. Please, everyone, take the time to read it and understand it.
I think it is pretty accurate of the system we have in Germany and perhaps in other western countries.
The problem is, one has to experience for oneself a lot of this things, to really understand them. By the time most people understand enough of the system, they probably have children/other liabilities which force them to play along. (Sadly I am not the exception.)
Perhaps, because by now enough people feel a real impact on their life and fear for the ruling classes is not there anymore?
Just a few examples from direct, personal experience (I am German, so what I enumerate has a German/Euro perspective):
Before the eastern block fell apart, at least in Europe/Germany, there was always the fear of the ruling class to experience another (French)revolution. Since this fear is gone, they literally have nothing to fear…
Is it possible to change anything about the situation? I am more than cynical by now:
That’s just for the western world, let’s not start about the dictatorships/regimes supported by western governments with money, weapons and knowledge, where things are even more shitty.
Of the views expressed here, yours is the one I believe is most accurate and insightful.
I disagree, however, that it’s hopeless. I think the pivot is this claim:
“There is no way to organize enough people in real life to force any political change (especially not with an aging population)”
There is a way. We just need an honest signal that can coordinate the behavior of the genuinely good people, who currently are fighting each other in opposing political parties (etc), rather than uniting to fight their oppressors. Public key cryptography will let us trust that the signal hasn’t been tampered with, despite the oligarchs owning the communication channels. We just need to find a way to make the signal loud enough, trustworthy enough and able to break through the current haze of disinformation that’s making us fight eachother.
Though this sounds hard, but it will get easier with time. As the system collapses, dissatisfaction with current ideologies will increase and motivate the collective search for a new, honest signal to unite around.
Perhaps the most valuable thing we can do now is research alternative, less corruptible, more egalitarian, more sustainable systems. We need to have an ideal to replace the current mess with when it crumbles. Otherwise the current power holders will simply ride out the anarchy, put on a different hat and continue to exploit.
Thanks a lot!
Accuracy for the western world and for an academic who comes from the working class. Most people I work with are academics and see things different, because they could always afford a lawyer and/or had and have connections themselves. Their whole life and lived experience tells them another truth.
I feel sad, that I have to disagree with you on the honest signal, I see several problems here:
IMHO one of the roots of the problem is how humans are wired and how bigger societies develop in a sociological way. The best way we have found (so far) is democracy, and AFAIK especially democracy with a mostly even wealth distribution (see the northern countries of Europe). AFAIK it is a social rule, that as soon as a group gets bigger, subgroups will be built. It is a human rule that attractive people will be treated better than non attractive one, you will want to help your friends even when it comes at a cost for someone you don’t even know or dislike.
My recipe would be a more even wealth distribution and a way to stop the wealthy force others to do labor for them. Thanks to police and military, I have the strong feeling, the ones with the guns and military will win.
p.s.: I recommend the following books if the topic interests you:
This post is the most accurate representation of modern world society I have ever encountered posted on social media, full stop. Please, everyone, take the time to read it and understand it.
Thanks a lot for your kind words! :-)
I think it is pretty accurate of the system we have in Germany and perhaps in other western countries.
The problem is, one has to experience for oneself a lot of this things, to really understand them. By the time most people understand enough of the system, they probably have children/other liabilities which force them to play along. (Sadly I am not the exception.)
Life is short and ignorance is bliss.