The end of the “social democratic consensus”, an era that began in 1945 and is now on the verge of extinction, has opened a large hole in the center of the governance – or governances – of the world we call “Western”. That solid axis, based on mostly shared principles (Welfare State, redistributive taxation and “democratic values”, whatever the latter was), no longer exists.
The consequence of this disappearance is a return, with the differences that a century of distance imposes, to the decades prior to the “social democratic consensus.” That is, to the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, whose main characteristic—let us leave aside the militarism of then and the digitalization of now—consisted in the bankruptcy of the “status quo” and the need to choose between right and left. This is a resounding election, without the option of resorting to centrist consensus. Either one, or the other. Like then.
#uncomfortable #choose #left
