Democracy is no defence against totalitarians

The main thrust of modern political trends is to depersonalise ordinary people, which is everyone below the upper middle class. Gender, nationality, ethnic origin, family roots, culture and religion count for nothing in this totalitarian schema. It is not dissimilar to that more familiar totalitarian distinction where one is either a party member or a nobody.

Not dissimilar to party membership? Suppose we push that a little further. To be woke is to adopt the informal membership or affiliate membership of a political movement. The level of membership depends on social status. In the UK the woke movement has begun to absorb what are evolving into branches of the Woke Party – branches such as Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Green.

Much of what we see in the modern political world is an interplay of advantages where individuals and groups make moves in the game of maximum advantage. Group those advantages together and there is only one overarching game. Woke political movements are tending to do just that - bring the rackets under one roof or Big Tent as Tony Blair called it.

It seems unduly cynical to say so because there are still many political actors who are generally on the level but our political culture is old and principled robustness has worn away as age, moral weakness and easy options corrupt our democratic processes. A period of political consolidation was inevitable although those old familiar political brands will be retained even if the ingredients have been absorbed and standardised.

Gender, ethnicity, environment, energy, transport, education, perceived inequality, welfare, social justice, taxation and almost all aspects of government have become absorbed into woke political rackets. In some cases such as climate change we see a simple woke racket while in others the takeover is less complete.

Much of it stems from voting for perceived advantage rather than seeking to preserve the value of those political structures our ancestors strived for and bequeathed. This political bequest we are now squandering for illusory advantage we do not even need. Democracies have a terminal problem with political rackets - voters think they can play the game too. But only Woke Party members are eligible to play because they make the rules.