Foreign readers must be reeling in disbelief to see the home of Democracy (or at least representative government) and the bastion of law and order dissolving into ugly, uncontrollable race riots. Why? The whole business of tribalism, status anxiety, hierarchy and downright anger are themes we’ve tried to cover before on these humble pages (most recently LSS 12 7 24) But: we admit that somehow we have never quite got to then heart of the subject. Never quite captured its essence. Certainly not as well as Richard Fern of Swansea University, whose article for the Conversation is at once succinct and insightful. [1]
Richard points out how online trolls and agitators are adept at tapping into the deep pools of anger and resentment felt by many. As we have observed before in these pages, these feelings are rooted in a sense of helplessness, loss, bewilderment, powerlessness and a lack of any credible model of a better future. Attempts to counter such posts with rational facts are thereby useless. In this species, emotion will always blot out reason. At this moment, media attention is centred on irate white males. But by our logic, many ethnic and religious groups will also experience this disastrous syndrome.
And disastrous it will be. A reversion to a world of jealously polices ethnic rivalries will be neither stable nor happy. The histories of Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel should be testament sufficient of that. Economic outcomes must be suboptimal, as each nation looks for autarky, breaking Adam Smith‘s prime rule of specialisation and free trade. Unless ways are found to prize openness and liberty over exclusivity, the future looks dark indeed.
#adam smith #autarky #race riot #anxiety #tribalism #southport
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