We had a lunch lecture where this environmental scientist gave a talk about critical materials and how big of a problem our reliance on these are. He links the whole thing up with politics pretty well, explaining how various political actors are involved and benefit from this or that.

At some point, he even mentions how in the netherlands, policy doesn’t get passed without a buy-in from industry. It means quite a lot, cause this guy is government hired in recommending policies.

Then he contradicts himself in the next paragraph by saying that this is the curse of democracy that people make stupid decisions.

I ask this guy about the contradiction. How you simultaneously harp about profits over needs, the evils of consultancy firms, and the inability of the Dutch government to do anything but pursue corporate interests, while also talking about the problems of “democracy”?

He just tells me “we are a democracy that’s why the Dutch government listens to industry”. Well not exactly that, but at least that’s the message I get when he talks about all the corporate controlled parties winning the elections and how that’s what the people chose.

Dude is this close to realising that the definition of liberal democracy is “legitimised rule by corporations” .

Of course, the lecture ends with a book recommendation for a book about the collapse of human civilisation. And a recommendation to go vote and participate in political parties.

Unlimited death upon elections.

  • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    15·
    19 hours ago

    Because it’s just a buzzword that means “literally everything that isn’t a very narrow band of elite managerial technocracy”. Like they call Trump, the elitest and fanciest of all lads whose base of power is aggrieved landowners, small business tyrants, and the enforcers of the ruling class, a “populist” despite entirely representing the ruling elite, simply because he’s also a boorish lout who’s rude to them personally. They can’t attack him on his crimes or his policies, because they’re all elite fancy lad crimes and the same policies they themselves support, so they froth about him being rude and dumb and vulgar like the poors and call him a “populist” because he’s what they imagine the public to be (when he’s the physical manifestation of the American ruling class without the flimsy mask of humanity it tries to hide itself behind).