tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732662769765511163.post7753249072524335872..comments2023-07-31T11:06:29.485+02:00Comments on Transition: Vladimir Popov: EU – Nationalism and InequalitiesD. Mario Nutihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17319653816487296802noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732662769765511163.post-5010474328298605652017-02-05T16:37:02.962+01:002017-02-05T16:37:02.962+01:00Many thanks, Frances, for your subtle, profound an...Many thanks, Frances, for your subtle, profound and broad comment. I am a simple economist, though, and I would rather not follow you on that terrain.<br /><br />For the non-initiated: "snowflake" has been used to indicate children or young adults having an inflated sense of their own uniqueness, and getting easily offended (snowflakes having each a unique structure; from Chuck Palahniuk’s 1996 novel Fight Club and its 1999 film adaptation, and the line therein "You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake”). It has a derogatory meaning (Wikipedia).<br />D. Mario Nutihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17319653816487296802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8732662769765511163.post-51113818138982373042017-02-05T11:21:03.680+01:002017-02-05T11:21:03.680+01:00The problem with what might be called 'the Pop...The problem with what might be called 'the Popov solution ' to globalisation associated with rising inequality (it might be better to consistently refer to inequalities) is that many people carry moral arguments, or internalised moral beliefs (which can have dramatically diverse and fiercely disputed ends and means) into their understanding of the economic effects globalisation delivers and their 'solutions' to inequalities reflects these what to them are 'self evident truths'. <br /><br />You point to one, the rooted defence of private property, and others are even more important to some people; the resentment of intrusion into the private life of thought and its expression, by authoritarians of various kinds who are present always through whatever means available to them from Inquisition to the state-ordered educational system, is reinforced by globalised communication accessed by everyone and fiercely patrolled by the thought police. <br /><br />There has been a great deal of giggling about snowflakes and their safe space needs but people need to be very grown-up and clear-minded to distance diversity of view from their understandings and beliefs, and as for the actions of Others, often we need a serious army to hold them off. If economic effects were wholly technically induced then it would be easier to correct for greater efficiency of outcome, but Popov's easy acceptance of the desirability of a globalised economy tempered by interventions to reduce inequalities ignores the diversity and offensiveness of moral beliefs. <br />Francesnoreply@blogger.com