A few days ago, I used an FT article on Air France-KLM for my Sunday blog. The words “industrial nationalism” in its subtitle, triggered my curiosity. This concept includes (former and current) slogans like: buy American and hire American, Made in USA, and Uncle Sam’s I want You to buy American. Several countries will have (had) similar slogans.
Industrial nationalism is part of the new Great Divide of the 21st Century: Nationalism versus Globalism (my blogs).
From 1800 to 2000, the Great Divide was about Left (Labour) versus Right (Capital).
The new Great Divide has torn the UK apart as its main political parties opted for Nationalism while 48.1% of the people opted for Globalism in the Brexit vote (eg, BBC).
I did not mention China in my diagram because China is complex. From a foreign perspective, it looks like China is pursuing Globalism. From a domestic perspective, China is about Nationalism.
It’s safe to say that China lacks a formal ideology and that it pursues pragmatism (eg, FT-2016, Hu Shih, SMU, T&F). Quite possibly, pragmatism is China’s ideology.
I think, feel and believe that a hybrid version of Nationalism and Globalism, like pragmatism, makes more sense than a choice between both. Ultimately, any ideology is part of the 7 Belief systems, being Love, Money, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Science, and the Truth. These 7 Belief systems, however, tend to look for the extremes.
Interestingly, the German-French Siemens-Alstom rail merger is a sign of European pragmatism in order to counter Chinese pragmatism (sic!). The European Commission blocked this merger based upon (free) competition arguments. A (rail) duopoly is, however, hardly better than a monopoly. Free competition needs at least 5-6 players to counter collusion amongst players (OECD, page 6).
“Are you choosing your life from the past, the expectation of the future, or from this very moment?” A quote from the 2013 book Pragmatic Psychology by Susanna Mittermaier.
Greased Lightnin’ (1978) from OST Grease
artist, IMDb, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Why, this car could be systematic
Hydromatic, ultramatic
Why, it could be Greased Lightnin’!
Greased Lightnin’
For part 1 of this blog series, see Identity vs Power.
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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