David P. Goldman writes for Asia Times using the nom de plume Spengler. He isn't uniformly wonderful (who is?), but this is one of his good days. His topic is the relatively general malaise afflicting western governments. See key paragraphs.
For the first time since modern European states were defined by the Treaty of Westphalia, every government of every major Western country is falling or would fall if it had to hold elections. What collective curse has befallen the leaders of the West such that all of their voters have come to despise them by enormous margins?
There is a simple explanation for the collective ruin of the governments of the West: All of them agreed to an agenda that their voters reject because it has degraded the quality of their lives. Spontaneously and simultaneously, the voters of the West are rising up to repudiate their leaders. The damage to the world’s political class is breathtaking.
What is the agenda that the voters of the West have repudiated?
- The first is a global agreement to isolate and debilitate Russia.
- The second was a global agreement to put the climate change agenda ahead of industrial productivity.
- The third agreement responded to the demographic decline of the industrial nations. All leaders of the major Western countries agreed that they would absorb large numbers of immigrants from poor countries to their south.
That's the World Economic Forum/Bilderburg/Aspen agenda. Its admirers, clients and proponents are in near-universal trouble.
Some products and policies just won't sell. It's usually because potential customers don't like them, or find the opportunity costs too high.
