Can the Western society cope when their country become poor?

[strategist.com]

When you look in to history many fate of the nations have gone down the drain. From being the wealthiest to now being beggars like Turkey. Currently many Asian economies are experiencing significant growth like China while it is the opposite on what is happenning in the US and Europe.

So what if the tables have turned? Say the situation become virtually irreverisible and the West becomes the new 'Third World' while many poor countries became the 'First World'? How would the Western society deal with it?

[removeduser_4536284751384]

being a third world country is a consequence of politics and culture, not economics. No matter how broke a country and its people goes, it can never become third world without political and cultural factors.

[strategist.com]

being a third world country is a consequence of politics and culture, not economics. No matter how broke a country and its people goes, it can never become third world without political and cultural factors.

I suppose but it is not just the people from poor countries' faults, but also from the unfair economic and 'aid' dealings that rich countries offer.

[♔Goodguy1066♔]

That's a very interesting question. Usually, the more liberal and western the society is, the wealthier the country is. Of course, it's quite obvious that westernisation nearly always comes with wealth and not the other way around, but could Western culture and society be maintained in a bankrupt country? I could give you examples like Britain and France between the first and second world wars, or great-depression US, but I doubt that they could have held on to their Western liberal culture for a long time if they'd have stayed poor.

[Thorn777]

You cant compare growth-figures between the West and China seeing where the West is and China is coming from. Overall wealth here grows faster than ever even. Its a redistribution problem...

And btw. "Turkey" was compared to China recently by The World Bank what economic growth and dynamic etc is concerned.

[Enemy of the State]

Turkey is far wealthier than it used to be. In fact every country is wealthier now than ever before.

[Rolling Thunder]

Turkey is far wealthier than it used to be. In fact every country is wealthier now than ever before.

Everyone in the world has never had it so good.

[Jingles]

Well, I'm thinking Fascist Italy, Spain, interbellum Eastern Europe and Nazi Germany would indicate that liberal democracy doesn't last a long time in the face of economic adversity.

[removeduser_4536284751384]

Well, I'm thinking Fascist Italy, Spain, interbellum Eastern Europe and Nazi Germany would indicate that liberal democracy doesn't last a long time in the face of economic adversity.

none of those countries were third world though.

[Jingles]

They would just have succumbed faster if they had been third world.

And actually to be quite honest depression-era Germany was third world by modern standards for the vast majority of people that lived there.

[Rolling Thunder]

And yet it still took four years - four years in the direst, poorest economic conditions suffered in Western Europe - for extremism to fully take hold of the body politic, and another 3 for it to fully exert it's cancerous grasp over the whole of society.

[Jingles]

You act like that's a long time.

[Rolling Thunder]

You act like that's a long time.

It is, considering how dire the situation in those countries was. Any other system of government is likely to have collapsed almost immediately unless presided over by an incredibly strong leader.

[PointOfViewGun]

When you look in to history many fate of the nations have gone down the drain. From being the wealthiest to now being beggars like Turkey. Currently many Asian economies are experiencing significant growth like China while it is the opposite on what is happenning in the US and Europe.

So what if the tables have turned? Say the situation become virtually irreverisible and the West becomes the new 'Third World' while many poor countries became the 'First World'? How would the Western society deal with it?

You don't know anything about Turkey, do you?

Anyways, you mean about the people who start rioting when their cities don't have electricity for 24 hours or people who look to conservatives in times of economic crisis?

[Trax]

none of those countries were third world though.

They were by modern standards.

[Jingles]

Liberal democracy rarely produces those, however, which is kind of the point.

[Rolling Thunder]

Liberal democracy rarely produces those, however, which is kind of the point.

In comparison to what? Authoritarian states emerge because of a leader with political strength (and usually collapse due to that leader's intellectual weaknesses), mostly because they are based on a relatively passing ideology. The only authoritarian states in recent history with any kind of succession tend to be those based on Leninist/Stalinist ideas and the "strengths" of their leaders have tended to be questionable at best.

[Exarch]

well one of the reasons why the '3rd world' is the 3rd world becuz degrading economic situation eventually led to civil unrest which naturally degrades standard of living;

i don't think any culture, western or otherwise coudl handle any large 'fall' as it were.

look at relatively rich 1820s china and after the events of the opium wars,famine taiping rebellion etc etc

[Claudius Gothicus]

Liberal Democracy thrives during an Economically promising era and exists without major challenges during a more mediocre one... the problem comes when hard recessions hit and the measures taken can't revert the effects of said recessions during a very long period of time(say decades)...

But in Liberal Democracies it's really hard to have a systematic recession for a decade...

Ohh and by the way a Liberal Democracy is not only one in terms of law and constitutions but also in terms of cultural significance, 1920's Italy or the Weimar Republic weren't really Liberal in the Cultural sense.

[Exarch]

weimar germany was fairly liberal for its time: 1930s wasnt no 2011, nor was it the swinging 60s either.

the nazis had a problem with german youths growing their hair long along with other radical youth activities like experimenting with xyz