Whether it’s the Capitol assault (Antifa & Pelosi caused it!), Brexit eco damage (the EU is punishing us!) or Priti Patel (she’s being bullied!), the new populist right now lies brazenly and without shame in an attempt to turn reality inside out. It’s utterly obscene & corrupt
We have now reached the point when it could be night outside, and the populists will look out the window and say ‘no it’s daytime’ even though they know it isn’t, and their supporters will go ‘yes of course it’s daytime’ simply because the people they hate have said it’s night
Having rejected the notion of expertise (elitist!) or knowledge based on facts, they are free to say that night is day if they feel like it, because what they feel and what they want is more important than the fact that the moon and stars are up there above their heads
This is a moral and intellectual sickness, which if allowed to run unchecked, makes democratic consensus impossible. As a strategy for dividing society and gaining power, it’s very effective and difficult to counter
Wasn’t it Voltaire who said that if you can make people believe absurdities you can make them commit atrocities? We are very much in that first phase now. We need to recognise what’s happening and learn how to fight it, otherwise the atrocities won’t be long in coming
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