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Nationalism and the Tech Community
Nationalism is back. Be it Brexit, Trump’s election, the establishment of a national-populist government in Italy or the surprising result of Sweden Democrats - just to name a few - the trend is now clear. Parties and movements built on the promise of putting “(insert nation) first” are gaining support pretty much everywhere.
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How to Beat Neo-Nationalism in Three Moves
Immigration is without doubts the most heated political topic of the present. Most countries in Europe have large parties which make their opposition to immigration the main point of their political program. Some of them are in power and even where they are not they are able to set the agenda, forcing all other parties to play chase to prove the electorate that they too are “tough on immigration.”
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The Unapologetic Case for Bullshit
In 1986 Harry Frankfurt published the first edition of On Bullshit, the essay that, in the years that followed, was to become the authoritative take on the topic. In it, he lamented the amount of bullshit plaguing every aspect of public life, arguing that production of bullshit was tightly correlated with the increase in opportunities and (perceived) obligations for people to speak their mind, even in the absence of a strong “apprehension of reality”.
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Common Sense Eats Common Talk
In November 2008, with the financial crisis in full swing, Queen Elizabeth attended a ceremony at the London School of Economics. Facing an audience of high ranked academics, she posed a simple question: “Why did nobody notice it?”
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A Not-So-Fictional Threat to Democracy
Many people today believe that democracy is at risk. Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the UK “Brexit” vote (and its aftermath), the shadow of Marine Le Pen in France and the general rise of populist movements across Europe, are taken as signs that support for traditional liberal democratic values is declining. Other data points seem to suggest a similar trend.