one of the most interesting things for me about the interview here is actually its ending, and not so much the book it's about or the discussion of burnout and how it relates to the current status...
one of the most interesting things for me about the interview here is actually its ending, and not so much the book it's about or the discussion of burnout and how it relates to the current status quo. this in particular stands out:
Sean Illing: The very last thing you say in the book is that millennials will have to become either fascists or revolutionaries. Is the choice really that binary? Are you convinced revolution is the only answer, knowing all that that implies?
Malcolm Harris: Yes, is the very simple answer. It’s not for me to say what must be done, but people can look at the world and decide for themselves. What I can tell you now is that we appear to be running out of options for reform.
i would still say this consensus is uncommon outside of online leftist circles, but we're starting to see other people who aren't a part of those circles (even if they might still leftists) starting to come to similar conclusions that the center-ground of (neo)liberalism is not capable of answering the issues of our time--or at least, not in time to prevent its collapse--and that it will lead to people polarizing to the extremes of the current political spectrum in socialism and fascism. this is certainly the conclusion i have come to. i think you're going to see people a lot more willing to accept both of those ideologies as parts of the world start to become uninhabitable, people are displaced, and wealth inequality continues to grow.
This feels like a very US centric view of the problem. Do millennials from other western countries feel the same way, particularly those with strong social safety nets? Why can't the US move...
This feels like a very US centric view of the problem. Do millennials from other western countries feel the same way, particularly those with strong social safety nets? Why can't the US move closer to those countries without (presumably) violence?
Or am I reading this incorrectly?
Are you convinced revolution is the only answer, knowing all that that implies?
the specific issues in the article are (and the article literally does specify that), but those are not the only problems that the world is going to face that make people think the future is...
This feels like a very US centric view of the problem. Do millennials from other western countries feel the same way, particularly those with strong social safety nets? Why can't the US move closer to those countries without (presumably) violence?
the specific issues in the article are (and the article literally does specify that), but those are not the only problems that the world is going to face that make people think the future is genuinely going to be socialism or fascism, nor are they the only ones which are likely to make people polarize that way. one of the more pressing ones that's probably going to be a litmus test for european countries is when climate migrants start moving into the global north. it took what, four million refugees to cause a massive surge in anti-immigrant and right-wing populism that pushed many european parties holding such beliefs into the mainstream and even allowed some of them to take power? consider that the most conservative estimate of climate migrants and refugees for our current path is 25 times that number at 100 million people, and as our climate modeling gets more and more pessimistic it seems more likely that the number is double or triple that one.
even if just a fraction of those people end up in the west, we're still talking an event that will dwarf the current immigration issue, and liberalism was hardly able to answer that to begin with. in that regard, it seems inevitable that, as the weight of climate migration bears down on the west, people will seek out the extremes and act accordingly. (in fact you already do see people doing this in europe on the right--in response to just the refugees that are there or will be there--in supporting their total removal from the continent or trying to sink their boats as they cross the mediterranean sea.) this is to say nothing of other factors like the people who see capitalism as a constant in society even in the face of seemingly-unsolvable-by-capitalism issues like climate change, and who will seek to maintain it against their left-wing radical counterparts as anti-capitalism becomes a more prominent position.
Facebook and Twitter have changed the perception for everyone. I was, and my friends were, just as burned out, gung-ho about politics in 2004 as a Jr in college. We could write letters to the...
Facebook and Twitter have changed the perception for everyone. I was, and my friends were, just as burned out, gung-ho about politics in 2004 as a Jr in college.
We could write letters to the editor, and listen to podcast, but now it's so easy to get stuck in your political micro-circle
one of the most interesting things for me about the interview here is actually its ending, and not so much the book it's about or the discussion of burnout and how it relates to the current status quo. this in particular stands out:
i would still say this consensus is uncommon outside of online leftist circles, but we're starting to see other people who aren't a part of those circles (even if they might still leftists) starting to come to similar conclusions that the center-ground of (neo)liberalism is not capable of answering the issues of our time--or at least, not in time to prevent its collapse--and that it will lead to people polarizing to the extremes of the current political spectrum in socialism and fascism. this is certainly the conclusion i have come to. i think you're going to see people a lot more willing to accept both of those ideologies as parts of the world start to become uninhabitable, people are displaced, and wealth inequality continues to grow.
This feels like a very US centric view of the problem. Do millennials from other western countries feel the same way, particularly those with strong social safety nets? Why can't the US move closer to those countries without (presumably) violence?
Or am I reading this incorrectly?
the specific issues in the article are (and the article literally does specify that), but those are not the only problems that the world is going to face that make people think the future is genuinely going to be socialism or fascism, nor are they the only ones which are likely to make people polarize that way. one of the more pressing ones that's probably going to be a litmus test for european countries is when climate migrants start moving into the global north. it took what, four million refugees to cause a massive surge in anti-immigrant and right-wing populism that pushed many european parties holding such beliefs into the mainstream and even allowed some of them to take power? consider that the most conservative estimate of climate migrants and refugees for our current path is 25 times that number at 100 million people, and as our climate modeling gets more and more pessimistic it seems more likely that the number is double or triple that one.
even if just a fraction of those people end up in the west, we're still talking an event that will dwarf the current immigration issue, and liberalism was hardly able to answer that to begin with. in that regard, it seems inevitable that, as the weight of climate migration bears down on the west, people will seek out the extremes and act accordingly. (in fact you already do see people doing this in europe on the right--in response to just the refugees that are there or will be there--in supporting their total removal from the continent or trying to sink their boats as they cross the mediterranean sea.) this is to say nothing of other factors like the people who see capitalism as a constant in society even in the face of seemingly-unsolvable-by-capitalism issues like climate change, and who will seek to maintain it against their left-wing radical counterparts as anti-capitalism becomes a more prominent position.
Facebook and Twitter have changed the perception for everyone. I was, and my friends were, just as burned out, gung-ho about politics in 2004 as a Jr in college.
We could write letters to the editor, and listen to podcast, but now it's so easy to get stuck in your political micro-circle