• THIS seems to summarise our predicament:

‘Fear is re-emerging as an active ingredient of political life in Western democracies.

Fear of terrorism and fear of the uncontrollable speed of change,

…fear of losing ground in an increasingly unequal distribution of resources

…fear of losing control of the circumstances and routines of one’s daily life,

…fear that those in authority have lost control to forces beyond their reach,

…fear of foreigners, of open frontiers and open communications,

…of unwelcome opinions, taking a harsher line with visitors, illegal immigrants and cultural or religious minorities.

The politics of insecurity are contagious…

The English capacity simultaneously to invoke and to deny the past

…to feel genuine nostalgia for a fake heritage is, I think, unique.’

— Tony Judt, 2008. Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten 20th Century

MIKE BOR
St George’s Fields, W2