Is history repeating itself?
I have completely lost faith in a strong leader. A leader who whips the masses and craves fiercely for heroism. Tens of thousands of people are killed before that. In the name of the cause, yes How many millions of people have not been victims in the meantime in the name of the cause? Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler, George W. Bush, Idi Amin and so many others.
English philosopher John Gray gives a critical response. Since the Enlightenment, we have started a life course guided by a sense of optimism, by a belief in ourselves as rulers of the universe, and by a desire for progress. This is best expressed by Gordon Gekko on Wall Street (1987),
When he claims “that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary mind. Greed, in all its forms; greed for life, to money, to love, knowledge has marked the upward wave of humanity”” The irony, says Gray, is that in order to solve our problems, we always rely on the same knowledge and experience that caused the mess. In fact, we are only increasing our societal challenges, he writes. Einstein already knew that it is impossible to solve our problems from the same thinking we used when we created them.
Humanity's chances of self-destructing are more likely to die as an individual in a car accident, writes Australian politician and former professor of economics Andrew Leigh in his recently published book What's the Worst That Could Happen. He refers to the philosopher Toby Ord, who summed up all the risks of human self-destruction and concluded that there is a one-in-six chance that humanity will wipe itself away before the end of the century. Leigh addresses the biggest risks in his book: climate change, nuclear war, pandemics, runaway artificial intelligence.
Those who are afraid want to get under the wings of someone who promises to take those fears away. And that's exactly what populists do. It is precisely the populists, once in power, do little to reduce existential risk. People like Trump and Putin don't work on making more sustainable and nuclear disarmament. They are hostile to science, institutions and (international) cooperation. They promise safety, but they offer disruption. That is not in the interest of their voters, even though they think they are protected.
What's The Worst That Could Happen?
Why catastrophic risks are more dangerous than you think, and how populism worsens them. In What's the Worst That Could Happen? Andrew Leigh looks at catastrophic risks and how to reduce them, arguing provocatively that makes the rise of populist political catastrophes more likely. Leigh explains that the pervasive short-term thinking doesn't prepare us for long-term risks. Politicians sweat the little things - detailed policy details of laws and regulations - but rarely pay much attention to reducing long-term risks. Populist movements thrive on short-term thinking because they focus on the direct grievances of their followers. Leigh states that we need to be long-term people: broaden our thinking and give major threats the attention and resources they need.
Comment with a minimum of 10 words.