A term to discribe decline of a previously civilized Western European country. As a result of
conservative, strictly
free economy capitalist govenrment.
Also meaning the influence that
U.S.A may have on the policies of smaller countries often allies. Related to old term Finlandization. Finlandisierung
This
period of conservatism has been, in effect, the
politics of economic decline. We have been unsettled spectators at the Englandization of our economy. Our universities, government programs, health care system, libraries, and roads are all becoming more modest--some of them slightly shabby, like pensioners who can'
t replace their tattered socks.The politics of decline has produced an ethic in which
people, facing shrinking fortunes, are pitted against each other. In this environment
people care more about preserving what they can for themselves than contributing to the commonwealth, the common good. Taxes are resented as an unwarranted intrusion, rather than as a contribution to such community benefits as education, transportation, street lights, and safety.
