, 11 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
From @NTenzer, in French but perfectly readable in English via Google Translate, a huffingtonpost.fr/nicolas-tenzer… the case for a "geopolitical Europe." Meaning,
a Europe that takes geopolitical power--not just economics and social welfare--seriously. He argues that there is one, overwhelming reason for this: Putin, with whom Europe is in a territorial and ideological war. I agree about Putin.
I'm no persuaded of the primacy of Putin as the source of the West's ills, though I understand the rhetorical purpose it serves to argue that he is. He's a big problem, and we (for some value of "we") do tend to understate, not overstate, what a menace he is.
But I've been tending a growing list titled "Causes of Liberal Democratic Decline." I use no formal definition of "democratic decline," hereinafter LDD. I want a sense of what other people think it is and what they think is causing it.
I now throw every hypothesis I encounter about DD on the list. I do so whether the idea strikes me as persuasive or nonsensical. The list is becoming ever-longer and more elaborate, with more interconnected arrows. I've noticed a few things about it.
First, most of the ideas on it strike me as plausible. LDD seems, from this list, wildly over-determined. Second, many of these ideas are a mess. Causes are mixed with effects. Effects are badly measured. Causes and correlations are confused, etc.
And we tend to latch on to one item and convince ourselves, "Here. This is it. I found the culprit. This is why we're in such a mess."
Thus an efflorescence of articles, books, speeches on the theme, "If we don't solve Problem A, we have no hope of solving problems B, C, D, and E."

e.g.: "If we don't fix our educational system, we have no hope of ... "
"If we don't get money out of politics, we have no hope of ... "

"If we don't deal with Putin, we have no hope of ... "

It may well be that one of these problems is the primary mover, overwhelmingly more important than the others, the *cause* of the others, or more solvable,
and thus more worth thinking about.

But I suspect not. Putin isn't an independent problem. As @NTenzer has argued elsewhere, he "takes advantage of the irresolution and pusillanimity of the West."
It's both a cause and a consequence of LDD. The LDD list looks more like the diagram on the left than the one on the right.

I'll keep working on it and I'll let you know if I figure out an easy way to fix it.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Claire Berlinski
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!