I was chatting with a neighbor at a Condo meeting (in Atlanta). I know him a bit. He’s a Southerner who has run a software server company and seems pretty smart.
Our conversation meandered onto Brexit. I was expecting him to be concerned about British prospects. Instead, he launched into a rant that Britain would be so much better off now that they didn’t have to support the “leeches” on the EU … specifically Greece. He and his wife had been to Greece the year before and were appalled at how unproductive they appeared to be.
WTF? Britain (worlds 5th largest national economy) should do a messy, costly, painful divorce from the world’s largest trading block … just because they’re pissed at a little country like Greece!
Greece can comfortably service about half of its national debt of $350B. Even its total debt is still less than 2% of EU GDP for one year. Ooooh! .. there’s a pimple on my finger … cut off my arm!
OK … so he was a bit off the rails. But it started me thinking … about that pattern of logic … even among quite intelligent people. Where have I seen it before? How does it work?
- I see something that causes me moral outrage. Deep, visceral, moral outrage.
- I don’t know how to constructively fix it. No clue.
- So I must destroy it.
- I will even sacrifice my own future if I can “send a message!” or “break it up”.
Think about all of the examples of this logic we have witnessed over the past 30 years … across a wide swath of human activity.
Personally Violent Anger
- ISIS suicide bombers, of course.
- Omar Mateen
- Dylan Roof
- most others?
Institutional and Policy Anger
- Republicans want to destroy ACA, without an alternative … just because Obama built it.
- Brits wants out of EU because they are outraged at [Greece, Spain, EU Fishing Regs, Polish immigrants, whatever]
- Germany wants to pound Greece into ground … because they aren’t like frugal Germans.
- GWB busted up Sadaam’s Iraq … with no clue how to glue it back together.
- … don’t even get me started on Donald
- many others
Are these isolated examples of limited or poor judgement? Or are they a wider, growing trend?
My suspicion for the latter is the fact that every part of society (personal, national, economic, technical, and international) is growing more complex. When non-experts (the vast majority) perceive an injustice, it is less and less likely that they be aware of a constructive fix or repair. So self-destructive anger may be all they have left. Opportunists then feed it (and on it) and the media (MSM, PACs and Internet) revel in the energy and outrage ... it’s all gasoline on the fire.
(Oh noes!) it can even happen here at DKos :-)
So a (probably futile) plea. When (or better, before) you propose the utter destruction of something you detest, please ponder whether there might be a partial fix or remedy … something short of mutually assured destruction.
Note, with respect to a certain tiny-fingered, cheeto-faced, ferret-wearing shitgibbon, ignore my previous paragraph.