Western exceptionalism is over
Probably all Western nations consider themselves exceptional. The British built an empire, but by now, as Philip Stephens put it in his recent article, British exceptionalism has run its course (FT, 15 May 2020). The same is true for all Western exceptionalism due to the rise of old/new Asian powers. For a nation, being exceptional might mean that all members belonging to the same mega-tribe are exceptional. It may make one feel good, but it might result in larger-than-life egos and oversized individualism. All of these will run their course because they lead to complacency at first and huge mistakes later. Epictetus, Seneca, Confucius and Lao Tzu might help a lot in going back to our humble roots.
Published on 5 June 2020
Covid is the first wake‑up call for the West
On the contrary, there is no good reason to think that a healthy, i.e. sustainable, recovery is within reach in the Western camp of the global economy (Martin Wolf, FT, 2 December 2020). The handling of the Covid-19 pandemic might only be the harbinger of the handling of future challenges of the 2020s. The Asian pattern proved to be a success; the Western pattern is a blatant failure. What really matter in handling the coming challenges are the mindsets, habits and connections of the players from households to governments and from business sectors to civil movements. When it comes to wake-up calls, double checking is the Asian way – let’s expect some further calls.
Published on 16 December 2020
What will the West do next?
Since the Opium War of the 1840s, China’s strategy has been clear-cut: to prevent the recurrence of that tragic event in history and to engender a great national rejuvenation. It is more than understandable, it is fair and just; it could not be otherwise. So the real question is not what China will do next; instead of that, we must ask what the West will do next with China (James Kynge, FT, Books, 24/25 October 2020). There is only a digital, 0/1 solution. For both the West and China, we can either trust each other or we can fear each other. Of course, we can be frenemies based on both trust and fear. However, the latter arrangement is always stronger, meaning that we finally end up with the 0/1 dilemma. The traditional win-lose mindset is based on fear; the positive win-win approach benefits from trust. Nevertheless, the old pattern is dead and we have to face the new pattern of our time. We can have either a win-win situation or a loselose outcome. Can the West really afford the luxury of losing historically and on a grand scale?
Published on 18 December 2020
Western flaws have been exposed
The pandemic helped us to see our future in a life-or-death light. In a nutshell, the West’s crisis management of health proved to be a total failure and the East especially East Asia – fared much better. It is not capitalism’s flaws that have been exposed (Mariana Mazzucato, FT, 29 December 2020), it is the Western liberal model that went wrong. In the Western model, individual freedom trumps nearly everything else. This is plainly wrong during wars, pandemics and shifting historical regimes. We have all of these in the 2020s, so we need to rewire Western mindsets and restructure Western institutions. The health, wealth and happiness of communities trump individual interests. That is why we should revert from liberal democracies to plain democracies. We have to build strong families, communities, middle classes and even states in order to provide a strong, wealth-creating economy for the overwhelming majority.
Published on 22 January 2021
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