Endemic risks are then those that are caused by other factions and that threaten the whole. Mary Douglas shows in Risk and Blame how often such risks are identified and used to gain influence. A few examples. Our nationalist factions consider granting asylum to Muslims an endemic risk. Our liberal democratic factions have identified the curtailment of human rights as an endemic risk. Our neo-classical market thinkers consider the use of taxes to redistribute income an endemic risk. And our epidemiologists call neglecting social distancing an endemic risk. A balance between the four families of partial interests (identity, rule of law, prosperity, sense of reality) and the associated disciplines contributes to a bearable social climate (or a tolerable collective-hate level).
On the way to the US presidential election in November 2020, the collective level of hatred in the US has been knocked out of control and has risen above boiling point. A sense of reality and the rule of law have hardly any weight left since Trump took office as the President of the US. The country is heading for political chaos that I expect will culminate in the confrontation between BLM protesters (identified as Antifa, probably partly correctly so) on the one hand, and 19,000 or more loyal Trump followers, on the other hand. The police and other law enforcement officers will literally imagine themselves between two fires. They may even have to choose between the two extremes. And all that in Tulsa, and as a sign of Trump’s respect (sic!) not on but one day after the Juneteenth. In the meantime, the economic, coronavirus and law enforcement crises are raging on unchecked.
I am writing this because we have to take into account that if we do not put a stop to this, scientist-politicians Cliteur and Baudet may steer us into a similar form of chaos. A form we cannot remember because we were not yet there to recognize ‘the lack of Lebensraum‘ and ‘the Jewish danger‘ as endemic rubbish, which, however, we are perfectly able to do today with Baudet’s ‘intention of transferring immigrants from Africa to Europe to weaken national identity so that there will be no more national states.’
And in the debate with Cliteur and Baudet we could realize that freedom of expression does not apply to essential reporting. Not for identity sensitive information, not under oath, not for stock-market sensitive information and not for science.
[Sources in addition to the aforementioned TV series and the daily news of NPO, FOX, CNN – Michael Gazzaniga, Who’s in Charge? (Harper-Collins 2011), Robert O. Paxton, What is Fascism? (Vintage Books 2004/2018) Robert C. Post, Democracy, Expertise and Academic Freedom. (Yale UP 2012)]