Global instability will hit home

PHOTO: Jan Ramroth, Flickr CC-BY

The zany comedy, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” came out in 1963. The band R.E.M. released “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” in 1987. A couple years later, Billy Joel gave his famously frantic history lesson, “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Despite these facts, those of us who grew up in the late 20th century may soon regard the state of the world in that time as remarkably stable. If you think “things are getting crazy these days,” you best hold your tongue. We’re nowhere near top gear on the 21st century Whoamobile.

Let’s start close to home. In the span of just a few months, all of North America landed under new management. 

You probably heard that President-elect Donald Trump assumes the U.S. presidency on Monday. Trump’s right-wing populism also swept Republicans into control of both houses of Congress. 

Last October, Claudia Sheinbaum became the first woman sworn in as President of Mexico. Her populist party Morena led a left-wing coalition that won in a landslide.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the ruling Liberal party announced his impending resignation two weeks ago. His party elects a new leader in March. That (arguably unlucky) person will lead the party into the 2025 elections. The odds of Liberals holding a majority seem slim, even if they form a coalition with the left-wing New Democratic Party. Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party holds a huge lead in the polls.

These three North American counties have been at peace for at least a century. Nevertheless, President Trump has thrown a few sharp elbows to our neighbors during the transition. Half-serious threats to annex Canada and Greenland, coupled with his usual bluster against Mexico, join very real plans to implement stiff tariffs on our border allies. It’s really less about left vs. right, but rather about unceasing public frustration creating opportunity for those who seek power.

The situation around the world appears no better. One European government after another has toppled as ruling coalitions in parliamentary systems break apart. Germany and France appear to be swinging toward far-right leadership. The United Kingdom overwhelmingly elected a Labour government just last year, ending a long stint for the Conservatives. But despite big margins in the House of Commons, Keir Starmer’s government has struggled to maintain popular support.

In South Korea, right-wing President Yoon Suk Yeol declared marital law to overrule liberal opposition leaders who had won midterm elections. He was impeached, and now the powerful East Asian democracy and U.S. ally grasps for political stability. Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (which is actually conservative) watched its grip on power slip in fall elections, too. 

Normally, incumbency provides an advantage in a typical election. Since 2020, however, 40 of 54 incumbent parties in western democracies have been voted out of office. COVID-19 created economic turmoil, fueling inflation and economic inequity. Meantime, climate change and artificial intelligence create new uncertainties. Public anger and fear cause many to question democracy itself.

To that, I’d recommend holding your fascist horses. Autocracies like Russia and China may appear free of drama (you know, because of the oppression) but they are certainly not free of problems. 

Russia’s elective war in Ukraine is bleeding its treasury while wasting tens of thousands of lives. Its oligarchs consume most of the spoils. Young talent flees the country every chance it gets, creating stagnation at a time of great change.

China has problems that no other nation on earth can even begin to understand. It’s nominally Communist system requires significant resources, but cheap labor and exports rule a rickety shadow economy that can’t keep up. The building boom of recent decades is ending. Next comes unemployment numbers that run bigger than the populations of almost every other country on the planet. 

It takes money, labor and lives to preserve authoritarian systems — money, labor and lives that could be used to actually solve problems. One day, we will wake up to news that political conditions in these countries have changed forever.

The rise of global unrest bodes poorly for us all. We must address economic inequality and the propaganda that fuels it. A tall order, but one that begins with a simple question. 

What have I done today to support a civil society and functional system to solve the problems around me? 

Simplified, have I been my brother’s and sister’s keeper? In serving others ahead of ourselves, we open doors where once stood walls. Then we will need no fire-breathing idols.

Aaron J. Brown

Aaron J. Brown is an author and college instructor from northern Minnesota’s Iron Range. He writes the blog MinnesotaBrown.com and co-hosts the podcast “Power in the Wilderness” on Northern Community Radio. This piece first appeared in the Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 edition of the Mesabi Tribune.

Comments

  1. Good one. Something that needed to be said in 1980 loudly and clearly. And was said by Jimmy Carter. And actually Biden in 2020. But like Carter then and Biden Harris and most Dems are now being vilified by those touting fire breathing dragons and encouraging impatience with results or flat out lying. Or by those looking to make another billion here or there.

Speak Your Mind

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.