Modern Western European societies have had the advantage of social cohesion, cultivated on the basis of relative linguistic, ethnic, and racial homogeneity, and they made that social cohesion self-reinforcing, by pursuing egalitarian economics that ironed out class differences.
As the Greek economic crisis unfolds, it becomes clear that, by forming the European Union, Europeans may have reduced their ability to act in mutual solidarity. This is most evident in the role of Germany, which, as the largest economy, would have to be the biggest source of bailout funds. “The relatively thrifty Germans” simply don’t want to help “their more free-spending Mediterranean neighbors,” as one source put it. Germans may be generous with their fellow Germans, but spending to make up for the low productivity and early retirements of Greeks is too much.
This resembles the source of a lot of American political paralysis: diversity creates the sense of otherness, people who are too different to trust, and not worth taxing oneself for.
Greece is not part of Western Europe — it’s more Balkan and Levantine — but the challenge would grow even greater with, say, Ukraine or (Gott forbid) Turkey.
“The heaviest punishment inflicted upon Greece was the control of the finances imposed at the proposal of Germany, as the Germans had been the chief sufferers of the financial crisis.” Current news? No, an account of an 1897 crisis over Crete.[1] Plus ça change.
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[1] The Book of History, Vol. XII (New York: The Grolier Society, c. 1915), p. 5212.
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The AP reported last week that some “Tea Party” leaders and Oklahoma legislators are discussing forming a militia to defend against encroachment by the federal government.
There are other indicators that extremism is finding new purchase.
In February, a man used his light plane to launch a terrorist suicide attack on a government office in Austin, Texas. He appeared to be a troubled man acting alone, but that is the case with many people who are also political terrorists, such as the Fort Hood shooter Major Hassan. Stack invoked politics directly as a motive:
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are.
Stack is citing classic insurgency theory as well: trigger an overreaction that fuels a rebellion.
His manifesto is also highly reminiscent of much of the rhetoric emanating from factions of the Tea Party movement, which brings us to the question: is that movement symptomatic of a threat to American stability? There are a number of worrying signs:
- Scale: There has been a right wing of this ilk for decades, but this incarnation seems larger and has more tendrils into the “mainstream.” If even a tiny fraction of turned toward violence, they might number in the tens of thousands.
- Celebration of violence: Tea Partiers have formed ties with “militia” groups that have preparing for violence as their central activity.
- Lack of restraining mechanism: In the past, mainstream media and the Republican Party provided dampers on the spread of right-wing radicalism. Now, extremists can confirm their views with them own media (which includes some corporate media entities as well). And the most of the Republican Party is either silent in the face of extremism, or actively panders to or reinforces it.
- Irrationality: The strong role of anger, and the strange visions of socialism and / or fascism, are also worrying. One could have a perfectly rational (or at least reality-based, if passionate) movement that favored radically downsizing government, but this doesn’t seem to be that movement. Many seem to have headed straight for the black helicopter rabbit holes.
Foreign terrorists can do the US harm; domestic extremism is orders of magnitude more dangerous, as it can undermine fundamental stability.
And the danger does not have to involve violence: a competent and trusted government is rare in the world, and one’s of America’s biggest competitive advantages. Destroying that trust and dismantling that competence would deal a severe blow to American prospects.