Governments are constrained to choose between prioritizing the economic efficiency of the whole on the one hand and, on the other, giving priority to the interests of a majority harmed by the new technologies.
Although it is tempting to assume that the Argentine case is sui generis because it deals with the problems of a society that, to the bewilderment of scholars from other latitudes,became voluntarily impoverished at a time when economic development was considered normal, the evil that made the country a barely comprehensible exception is spreading throughout the rest of the democratic world where a rebellion against modernity is gathering strength.
Something similar happened here in the middle of the last century, when the then colonel Juan Domingo Perón managed to take advantage of the discomfort caused by the economic and cultural changes that would follow the triumph of the allied cause in World War II. ANDWe are experiencing the long-term consequences of a movement to repudiate what, for a long time, would be the dominant way of thinking in the most advanced, rich and democratic countries.
For those reluctant to privilege the economic above almost everything else, clinging to modalities that others consider outdated is far from irrational, but it happens that many who claim to be motivated by high ethical principles are more than willing to take advantage of them. opportunities to get rich, hence the loss of prestige of a trade that in theory should be monopolized by idealists who subordinate their own interests to the common good. Although everyone is forced to speak as benevolent altruists, too many manage to become millionaires, amassing mansions, high-end cars, private jets, and other luxury goods.
Meanwhile, in North America, Europe and Japan, growing sectors that had benefited from progress material that, in the second half of the 20th century, radically modified almost all democratic societies, they feel left behind and fear that they will continue to lose ground. Those pessimists who foresee the virtual elimination of the middle class in the most prosperous countries as a result of the changes that are underway may be exaggerating, but it is undeniable that many people who have become accustomed to an enviable standard of living they have good reason to believe that they are incapable of meeting the challenges posed by the proliferation of new technologies that are eliminating jobs overnight they were well paid.
Those affected by such economic changes already number in the tens of millions; many more fear to share their fate. In the United States, the most benefited by what those displaced in this way attributed to the bad faith of a traditional “political class” that has not done enough to help them, it has been Donald Trump, an extravagant character whose influence is based on the widespread conviction that members of a supposedly progressive “elite”, who do not even try to hide the contempt they feel for the majority of their compatriots, are trying to consolidate an order that in the end would be more dictatorial than democratic, although they swear that it would not occur to them to violate the constitutional rules.
In European countries, similar sentiments are drastically changing the political landscape. Until a couple of decades ago, those most favored by what is happening would have been leftists of various kinds, but all parties of socialist, Marxist-Leninist or Trotskyist inspiration have become gentrified by being captured by lawyers, academics and others that, in the opinion of the majority, represent “the elite”, which is why such groups have been displaced by movements that, like Peronism for a good part of its life, are usually described as “right-wing”.
Parties such as the Italian Brothers of the current head of government, Giorgia Meloni, and the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, who according to the polls could be the next president of France, and others of similar ideas they have added to nationalism a Labor economic cookbook. The resulting mixture has allowed them to gain the support of those who find the world that is being configured hostile. and they would like to recover the certainties of yesterday.
It is unlikely that they will. Nowadays, national governments are forced to choose between prioritizing the economic efficiency of the whole on the one hand and, on the other, giving priority to the interests of the majority. As much as they refuse to acknowledge that it is a question of alternatives, they understand that if they lose the technological race, the community that depends on their decisions will be in danger of becoming impoverished, but unless they economically protect the bulk of its members by delaying technological changesthey could face an even bigger disaster.