Thursday, June 14, 2018

The Right wing intellectual decline, continued

Niall Ferguson is copping a lot of criticism for his latest newspaper column, in which he mounts an argument that the chaotic, who-knows-what-he'll-do-or-say-next, style and instincts of Trump is just what the globe (or at least, America) needs.  This is the particularly offending part:
Yes, there is much to be said in principle for an international order based on explicit rules; and yes, those rules should favor free trade over protectionism. But if in practice your liberal international order has the consequence that China overtakes you, first economically and then strategically, there is probably something wrong with it.

The key to the Trump presidency is that it holds out probably the last opportunity the United States has to stop or at least slow China’s ascendancy. And, while it may not be intellectually very satisfying, Trump’s approach to the problem, which is to assert American power in unpredictable and disruptive ways, may in fact be the only viable option left.
As people are saying on twitter:


Yes, once upon a time, conservative intellectuals valued, well, intellectualism.  Now they're reduced to cheering the opposite because "that'll show them." 

And this:

And there are many other worthy Twitter comments as well, noting that wrecking Western alliances is playing exactly into Chinese (and Russian) hands.  

But the best analysis of how Ferguson has dumbed himself down is a Krugman thread, which you can read here.

2 comments:

not trampis said...

wow,
Ferguson shows as much knowledge of economics as Trump

not trampis said...

How would one exacerbate the USA's decline and put China in the driving seat.

Well you would actually try to arose a rules based trading system leading China to champion it.
you would put no value whatsoever in economic or military alliances thus making your former allies to hedge their bets. This again puts China in the driving seat.
A 'conservative intellectual would be aghast at Trump showing Ferguson is neither a conservative nor an intellectual