Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Steven Pinker: “Populists are on the dark side of history”

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That means economic improvement, not more freedom.
Economic freedom usually goes hand in hand with other forms of freedom. Looking beyond its market economy, South Korea, for example, is a much freer and more pleasant place than its neighbor to the north. When countries, such as Venezuela, abandon the market, they slide into misery. That’s what happened in the Soviet Union, Mao’s China and East Germany before the Wall came down.
Okay, so the world is a better place, thanks in part to the markets. But how do you explain the rise in populism?
Nobody knows for sure. Certainly the Great Recession was a contributing factor. But in Europe there was another factor at work. The strong migration flow from Muslim countries coincided with a rise in jihadist terrorism and the risks of that were exaggerated..''

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