It's like Brexit, Klaus—all our democracies are locked in this paroxysm brought about by a real nothingness at the heart of democratic choice.
At no election are we ever offered a chance to change our societies for the better, because even if good candidates happen to get themselves elected—which is hard enough—the overwhelming weight of elite and establishment resistance destroys their programmes.
The alternative is these outbreaks of displaced resentment.
I don't really think average data from the World Bank gives you a complete picture, when it's quite obvious the vast bulk of humanity could be working less, struggling less and still living in happy relative prosperity if not for the absurd concentration of wealth and power that exists.
From orbit what you can see of the social world is the extraordinary distinction between those who live in relative wealth and comfort and the huge numbers who still don't have Maslow's hierarchy sorted out.
