The achievements of Western democracies (equality, rule of law, social justice) are met with growing disdain. A hierarchical system, largely derived from the nation-state model, pits the (scorned) elites against the (disdained) people. Social give and take does not happen anymore, the situation is being made worse by social media.

This book gives explanations for the growing gap in wealth and income and the rise of anti-democratic movements. The power of the elites today is supposedly founded on merit (education, intelligence etc.), but a closer look shows that a well-marked-out pool is just self-re-producing. The power these in-groups wield often leads to moral insensibility, made worse by a condescending attitude towards people further down the food chain. The pre-dominance of the model of the nation-state, with its centralism and top-down structure, is one of the roots of this problem, as is the lack of comparisons and value judgements; examples from transport and urbanism show that they are possible. The deplorable situation is made worse by the anti-social-media scuppering open and productive discussions.

Autorentext

Georg Schmid was Professor of Modern History at the University of Salzburg; he also taught at Kansas University, University of Western Illinois, Paris VIII; his areas of research include modern and contemporary history, transport and urbanistics, semiology, and film.