Never Waste a Crisis

           Last week, I lamented the stasis of three issues. This week, I am pleased that progress that has been made on all of them: the announcement of a viable vaccine for covid has lit a lamp at the end of the tunnel; the US electorate has succeeded in cutting off the head of the monster that is Trumpism; and, on the personal level, our home-moving process has advanced significantly.

          While progress such as this fans the flames of hope on both the macro and micro fronts, nothing is quite resolved. However, the direction of travel is cause for optimism. In the case of coronavirus, it is to be hoped that, once over, the havoc it is wreaking on human lives and livelihoods will lead us to adjust some of our behaviours – such as better management of the environmental interface between humans and wildlife, a less isolationist tendency among nations and more serious support for the aims of the World Health Organisation. In the case of the USA, perhaps the pendulum of popular opinion has now begun to swing away from libertarian fanatics and towards “losers”, ultimately to replace selfishness and polarisation with a social contract that is more inclusive. Meanwhile, our moving home presents an opportunity to shake off some entrenched ways and perspectives, to stimulate the senses and reignite one’s curiosity.

          The pandemic – as has often been said – will bring about some big changes, but what and how remain to be seen. For example, will working from home become a permanent feature and, if so, how would that affect our centres of commerce, our cities? But there are less obvious ways in which our lives have been touched: Guy Fawkes night was firework-free; Armistice day was without ceremony; and Christmas party invitations have not been sent out. Will the temporary absence of these traditions begin to erode them or, at least, bring into question their hold on the common psyche, thereby shifting our historical perspective a little? I hope so, for the upholding of traditions requires a fine balance between using them to bind society in a mutually beneficial alliance and misapplying them to stultify dissent, diversity and enlightenment. And whilst we, in our smug ‘Western Democracies’, might think we are well along the road to ultimate civilization, we have a long way yet to travel. Take a look at Peter Geoghagan’s book, Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics. If you think that either the USA or the UK has a robustly democratic system, this evidence-based analysis will open your eyes.

          There has always been lobbying, gerrymandering and – in the USA – state-sponsored suppression of ethnic voters. Over the years, legislation has been passed to set up controls aimed at keeping the playing field level and, when it comes to suffrage, this has been relatively successful. However, in the fields of lobbying and campaigning, nothing has been able to control the power of money. The gist of Democracy for Sale is that money, in the last few years, has played a decisive role in influencing voters because it is being used to buy advertising on social media, an unregulated medium. Not only are the purchasers of the ads invisible, but the ads themselves are liable to contain unverified propositions targeted at those most likely to accept them as factual. Existing controls on political campaigning are ineffective in the era of instant social media. Complacency in this respect is proving to be dangerous for democracy.

          Crises present opportunities for change, for better or for worse. I vote for better, by which I mean progress towards socioeconomics*, environmental restoration, democratic restitution and, on the practical level, advances in technology and design. Funny, though, how I am spending a lot of time online looking for a vintage mid-century easy chair for my new life in my new abode. Traditional ways are not so easy to shake off.

*As in Raguram Rajan’s The Third Pillar.