And now he made the cardinal discovery, which marks an epoch in the life of every man who arrives at it, that world-celebrated persons are very like other persons.
Arnold Bennett – The Old Adam (1913)
I’ve used this quote before, but it is still interesting in the context of the current UK general election.
A significant number of people seem to view the main political parties with a degree of contempt which is much more than dissatisfaction with habitual political duplicity and incompetence. Many ordinary folk do not look up to what we sometimes call “the powers that be”. Not in a sense where those who wield power and responsibility deserve respect due to their position.
This shift has been going on for a long time and powerful people and institutions have always been lampooned and ridiculed, but a matter-of-fact egalitarian outlook seems to have become increasingly widespread.
An outlook where even senior political or government charlatans are merely bunglers who should be sacked, not superior crafty schemers. An outlook where bunglers are just bunglers, whatever their level of seniority, whatever political narratives they spin to cover their bungling.
As if we are becoming more egalitarian, but not in a way that is likely to meet with the approval of progressive politics. It feels more genuine than that. No wonder there are such frantic moves to snuff it out.
As if we are becoming more egalitarian, but not in a way that is likely to meet with the approval of progressive politics. It feels more genuine than that. No wonder there are such frantic moves to snuff it out.
4 comments:
There's a Wikipedia article about feet of clay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feet_of_clay
The broad idea being that even a glorious construct of fine metals may still rest on fragile feet of clay and be brought down easily.
We have believed for decades that The Powers That Be had 'feet of clay' - and this helped make them appear more human. After repeated bungles (Weapons of Mass Destruction, the financial crash, the Referendum and Brexit, Covid and Lockdowns, the rebirth of political correctness) we realise that 'feet of clay' is no longer an accurate description. It feels as if the level of clayishness has risen.
Perhaps we are at the 'body of clay' stage where almost everything is inflexible but fragile? A bungler surrounded by bunglers has no awareness of his or her state - it would explain why many baffling incompetents have managed to find a place in Parliament.
DJ - yes, the level of clayishness as you put it has risen and is still rising. Change is always with us of course and the internet may be causing some changes we haven't adjusted to yet, but rising clayishness does seem to be one of them.
If we had a smart civil service it would be different, but we don't appear to have that, the bungling isn't wholly political. The man in Whitehall doesn't know best.
Important point there: the wrong type of egalitarianism. Note how the usual suspects champion high-flown political virtues like democracy (until Brexit); intellectual autonomy (until global warming is challenged); and egalitarianism (until they need to promote 'fact checkers' who are more equal than us).
Sam - thanks, yes we see it across the internet, but not on mainstream sites. It may be more common than we know, even if not particularly explicit.
Post a Comment