Julian Cribb : It’s the end of politics as we know it
Excerpt: Politicians are increasingly grappling with phenomena beyond their limited expertise – if they’re paying attention at all.
Paralysis. Atrophy. Inertia. Perplexity. These terms describe the state of mind of governments around the world, grappling with an existential crisis they do not understand and whose course they appear impotent to change.
None of the usual levers work, push them or pull them how you will. You can’t halt wildfires by printing money, settle COVID with tax breaks, subsidise the sea so it stops rising, or battle global overheating with armies. The whole political juggernaut, lovingly hammered, screwed and bolted together by politicians and economists over nearly two centuries, is at last seen for what it is: a fantastic, rust-bucket contraption of whistles and wheels that no longer works, if indeed it ever did.
The science has been in for some time. Modern industrial civilisation is headed for collapse under the onset of 10 catastrophic threats which, singly, severally and collectively, traditional national politics now seems powerless to resolve. It doesn’t help that the world has recently chosen many political leaders – both democratic and autocratic – without the intelligence, learning or ability to understand what is happening. But don’t they look good on TV? SNIP
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