Let’s Generalize Again

Been a while. But now the world has gone so nutty that a healthy dose of applied generalization is needed, yet again. (And sorry for having left you adrift and alone without guidance for so long).

I’m thinking about the crosscurrents of globalization and what we could call tribalization. Let’s stay with that thought for a minute.

Globalization has led to a power shift, from national governments and regional rule-making institutions such as the OECD or the EU, to global companies – who also are being swept along in great flows of trade and capital. Globalization has helped lift millions out of poverty, but also torn apart safety nets and livelihoods along the way.

The challenges created by globalization include

• growing inequality, as gains flow to the very wealthy
• unhealthy dependence on untamed market forces such as commodity trading
• vulnerability of working and lower middle class groups in developed countries

These challenges, in turn, have created a breeding ground for nationalism, populism and strongman politics. All this is thoroughly pundited upon across cultures and languages. What hasn’t been decoded yet, and applied generalization may just come in handy, is the phenomenon that this institute calls Tribalization.

Tribalization as a phenomenon harks back to how very real early interest groups (e.g. rallying against spear-wielding invaders) were formed. Today, tribalization sees groups form bonds and act on religious beliefs, cultural identities and political convictions.

And this is were the nuttiness emerges.

Facts replaced by falsehoods, called alternative facts. The respect for science is eroding, and climate change or even evolution become a matter of beliefs. Self-interest is elevated to general principles, eroding the norms of discourse and civilized co-existence developed over generations. Bias and prejudice have become acceptable reasons for action.

The 45th president of the US didn’t created this nuttiness, his election is an outcome – which will create more nutty messes, no doubt. The populists across Europe are also expressions of the madness, which they amplify and cement. And the strongman rules we see in Russia and Turkey fan and ride the flames of nuttiness to achieve greater power.

So what can we do? Keep on keeping on. Explain – appealing to the cultural values and motivations of those swept up in the nuttiness. Insist on facts, institutional generosity, humanitarian values – and if you’re a business: deal with stakeholders with overwhelming decency. Nothing yields greater returns than respect.