Confidence in world elites has exhausted itself today. This crisis is a “powder keg” that can explode at any moment with the most unpredictable consequences.
This is stated in the material of the American publication Foreign Policy.
The media noted that the world order for decades was determined by the Washington Consensus, which reduced the role of state regulation and expanded the role of the market. Now this system has failed, and ever new trade wars, populism, and the intensification of anti-capitalist sentiments are becoming inevitable.
People increasingly dislike the current world order. This is evident from the protests that swept the entire planet. At the same time, the media draw attention to the fact that the current manifestations differ from the “color revolutions” of the recent past in that they are not aimed at the national government, but precisely against the entire world order, the system of political and economic regulation itself.
The publication drew attention to the study of Edelman Trust Barometer, which was conducted in 28 countries and recorded an alarming level of pessimism: people are less and less trusting the current global system. So, no more than 20% of the world’s population are positive towards it. At the same time, 73% support large-scale reforms of the capitalist world order.
In this case, the media called four serious reasons for explaining the current situation:
The first is dissatisfaction with inequality, as well as people’s uncertainty about the future. According to a study by Edelman Trust Barometer, residents of 21 of 28 countries are afraid that they will lose their former “respect and dignity”. Those who believe in a better life in five years have not even gained a third. At the same time, 83% of workers are really afraid of losing their jobs due to automation of production, an influx of migrants and other trends.
The second reason is the growing social split. For example, Muslims living in India believe that under the current government they are increasingly being pushed into the background. At the same time, in the West, the difference in the salaries of highly paid workers and blue-collar workers in de-industrialized areas has led to populist ideas like trampism or Brexit.
Climatic cataclysms became the third cause of people’s distrust of the elites, which is associated with the intensive exploitation of Earth’s resources. Australian fires or floods in Venice are widely regarded as harbingers of the future.
The fourth reason is that people in developed countries are convinced that international trade entails job cuts and slower wage growth. This is due to the fact that a significant part of production is located in countries with lower production costs.
“These four aspects led to the Great Crisis of Confidence,” the article says. This crisis in the publication is called the bomb “with a charge of disappointment.” “If it explodes, the consequences can be unpredictable,” the Foreign Policy concluded.