Centrist sinkholes

[unhappycamper]

http://atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GECON-01-151113.html



Centrist sinkholes
By Chan Akya
Nov 15, '13

A few years ago, I penned an article titled "Principal over Principle" on this site (see Principal over principle , Asia Times Online, June 6, 2009) that detailed the likely collapse of Western moderate philosophy in the face of the economic crisis, in turn likely to pave the way for radical elements to emerge as dominant political forces.

This was very much a prediction that I wanted to be wrong about, but unfortunately the report card now suggests exactly the same trends that were pointed to in that article.

We can look at the trends across multiple threads that are described briefly below. I will not in each case try to explain the trend itself (you have Google for that), but relate the points to the macro issue at heart namely the destruction of centrist tendencies in politics.
1. Tea Party and its lasting political effects
2. Fringe Europe
3. From Arab Spring to fundamentalist winter

~snip~

That conclusion suggests that a denouement through chaos is the only logical step forward for global politics.

[bemildred]

1. Cheerful fellow. nt

[Doctor_J]

2. Observant and prescient though

the 1% and the other PTB laugh at the Arab Spring, OWS, and liberals who vote for New Dems. If we really want out of this death spiral, we are going to have to get dirty.

[bemildred]

3. Much too convincing, yes.

I don't think the situation is impossible to cope with yet, given forceful and resolute action, but see I none of that without a political crisis. Indeed, we are in the crisis, I think, have been for a while.

I don't always agree with what he says, but he is a perceptive observer.

[TheKentuckian]

4. Pretty well thought out until the end where they pretend by implication

that there are leftist extremist in charge and mucking things up and cries where are all the Centrists (never to be conflated with actual moderates) when the actual global power is actually almost fully held by Centrists and right wing extremists of all kinds of stripes.

Still, it was worth reading until the "No Labels" commercial.

[yurbud]

5. I tend to agree. It's hard to see how we "fix" a system where the players who are the problem

have all the money to buy politicians of both parties and the monopoly on force.

They have to break themselves before we can truly fix anything else.

[blkmusclmachine]

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