Via DW:
Climate change, economic crises, ageing populations — to solve global problems, leaders will have to plan for the long term. But although many results of bad policymaking only show up generations down the road, politicians have to stand for re-election regularly, and are often only interested in short-term success. Major topics involving the future don’t bring in votes. Is democracy a system that is only able to provide shortsighted solutions?
Featuring:
- Kevin Hoffmann, business correspondent, Der Tagespiegel (Berlin)
- Quentin Peel, international affairs editor, Financial Times
- Ahmed Badawi, Research Fellow at Zentrum Moderner Orient
WATCH:
Oooohhh … look at all these ugly, angry old white men trying to run our lives.
The new conservative purity test
The evidence is that democracies are just fine at long-term thinking if – and it’s a big if – politicians and the Fourth Estate are willing to entertain such thinking. Both have skin in the game: politicians in every democracy keep getting to bang the “most important election EVAH” drum to get votes, media moguls and those who work for them benefit financially from a fast-moving and short-termist news cycle.