Esa's Notebook

When people are elected to a significant position, the selection criterion has usually been the person’s experience in question or other merit in the qualities required for the position.  Meritocracy represents a vision in which power and privilege are distributed on the basis of individual merit. This is also called “the equality of opportunities”.

The opposite of the meritocratic system can be considered the liberal democratic system. According to it, power and privilege are given on the basis of social individualism and ideological and identity politics. A person is chosen on the basis of his identity, not merit.

Central to such liberalism are, among other things, liberal sexual politics and the emphasis on LGBTQ+ ideologies at different levels of decision-making in society, as well as in education and the media. In it, the merit of a person is belonging to a sexual minority.

Liberal sexual policy is linked to an emphasis on diversity, social justice and inclusion in different sectors of society. This so-called DEI means, in particular, favouring and involving groups of people who, for historical reasons, have been underrepresented or discriminated against because of their identity or disability. E.g. In a company’s HR policy, this may mean favouring women when filling board positions, or favouring people of color or members of sexual minorities in personnel recruitment.

Liberalism also emphasises the ecological and climate awareness of social action. Citizens’ eco-behaviour has been controlled by tightening regulations and laws throughout the EU. Emissions trading has risen to an important role in compensating for the carbon footprint with money. Climate activism, taken to extremes, has led to climate alarmism and even ecoterrorism.

In economic policy, liberal democracy has meant the rise of green-left economic policy: higher taxation and stronger regulation of business life. Inclusivity, environmental impact and social responsibility have become key metrics for the company’s operations.

Liberalism tests the fundamental values of more conservative-minded people. Many outlets of liberalism have questioned, for example, the Western Christian outlook on life. As ultraliberalism grows and people’s basic beliefs are overturned, it is no wonder that depression and anxiety and feelings of insecurity are increasing among people, especially young people.

Woke, climate alarmism and gender fanaticism have alienated ordinary citizens and turned them into support for those opposed to the liberal political elite. Climate issues or trans rights have not been at the center of most ordinary people’s worlds. Voters are much more interested in problems related to their own basic lives, such as the economy, unemployment and security. Democrats in the United States and the Green Left in Europe or here in Finland have not had credible solutions to them. A new political wind is now blowing from the right in the USA and Europe. This means that the importance of the free market and business, among other things, is emphasised as a means of empowering individuals and restoring merit-based success. It is considered necessary to rediscover the fundamental values and basic needs of ordinary people and give them priority before woke and the liberal world order.  

In the US presidential election, this change in citizens’ behaviour was particularly evident. The US Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat. The critics on Democratic Party has referred to the identity crisis of the Democratic Party, referring to the fact that its political agenda has embraced progressive ideologies and alienated ordinary citizens. This political positioning has opened the door to candidates outside the elite, including Donald Trump, who represent a populist backlash against the liberal elite.

Whether this will be a good turn for the U.S. and the world remains to be seen. In any case, the signal from both Europe and the USA is clear: ordinary people’s patience with the political liberal elite has run out.

(Fig. FreePic)