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| Confused by momentous times? Me too. Let’s talk | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| This isn’t just a post-truth society. It’s post-rational and post-argument. When the next American president spends his week asserting, as Donald Trump has just done, that the US election wasn’t rigged so there’s no need for a recount, and that he would have won the popular vote if only the election hadn’t been rigged, then let’s not get into a debate about whether certain political stances are narrow- or broad-minded. That distinction is pointless. We’re now post-mind. | This isn’t just a post-truth society. It’s post-rational and post-argument. When the next American president spends his week asserting, as Donald Trump has just done, that the US election wasn’t rigged so there’s no need for a recount, and that he would have won the popular vote if only the election hadn’t been rigged, then let’s not get into a debate about whether certain political stances are narrow- or broad-minded. That distinction is pointless. We’re now post-mind. |
| Post-language too: words don’t mean anything, they’re just ploys in political sparring. For Trump, a wall can eventually mean a fence, and “I will” can mean “I may” or “I haven’t really thought about it” or even “I now won’t.” | Post-language too: words don’t mean anything, they’re just ploys in political sparring. For Trump, a wall can eventually mean a fence, and “I will” can mean “I may” or “I haven’t really thought about it” or even “I now won’t.” |
| Here at home, we can at least be comforted by the certainty that there is one word we do know the precise meaning of and that’s “Brexit”. Which means Brexit. Contrast that, however, with the meaning of the word “Leave”. You’d think it means “leave” but according to those in power, when people voted “Leave” they clearly voted for a qualified cap on immigration and a commitment to international free trade balanced by access to the European market with no obligation to agree to the free movement of labour. Linguists will study the evolution of this word for decades. | Here at home, we can at least be comforted by the certainty that there is one word we do know the precise meaning of and that’s “Brexit”. Which means Brexit. Contrast that, however, with the meaning of the word “Leave”. You’d think it means “leave” but according to those in power, when people voted “Leave” they clearly voted for a qualified cap on immigration and a commitment to international free trade balanced by access to the European market with no obligation to agree to the free movement of labour. Linguists will study the evolution of this word for decades. |
| Given this apocalyptic confusion, I make no apology for the fact that I haven’t yet worked out what I think about everything that happened. I’m the mental equivalent of dumbstruck: brainlocked. It’s easier to wrestle a snow leopard to the ground with a tear than attempt a coherent set of responses. Here’s a snapshot of the contradictory arguments and emotions swirling round in my head right now. | Given this apocalyptic confusion, I make no apology for the fact that I haven’t yet worked out what I think about everything that happened. I’m the mental equivalent of dumbstruck: brainlocked. It’s easier to wrestle a snow leopard to the ground with a tear than attempt a coherent set of responses. Here’s a snapshot of the contradictory arguments and emotions swirling round in my head right now. |
| “I didn’t vote for Brexit, but a lot of people did who were extremely disillusioned with establishment politics and it would be dangerously insulting to them and to the democratic process if we sought to overturn their decision.” | “I didn’t vote for Brexit, but a lot of people did who were extremely disillusioned with establishment politics and it would be dangerously insulting to them and to the democratic process if we sought to overturn their decision.” |
| “Oh good, the courts might stop Brexit.” | “Oh good, the courts might stop Brexit.” |
| “Politics has gotten too divisive. We’ve retreated to our own comfort zones, surrounded ourselves only with those who agree with us and lost the art of listening to the real concerns and anxieties of those who have opposing views. The longer things stay in a binary Us-and-Them tussle, the smaller the chances of us ever sorting the mess politics is in now.” | “Politics has gotten too divisive. We’ve retreated to our own comfort zones, surrounded ourselves only with those who agree with us and lost the art of listening to the real concerns and anxieties of those who have opposing views. The longer things stay in a binary Us-and-Them tussle, the smaller the chances of us ever sorting the mess politics is in now.” |
| “Rightwingers are complete bastards, and will do anything to gain power, and everything to cling to it. In America, the Republicans have cynically gerrymandered and redistricted county boundaries to favour Republican majorities and to suppress voting rights in heavily Democrat states. The only way progressives can stop them is by harnessing their own inner bastard and fighting them in an all-out battle of the bastards.” | “Rightwingers are complete bastards, and will do anything to gain power, and everything to cling to it. In America, the Republicans have cynically gerrymandered and redistricted county boundaries to favour Republican majorities and to suppress voting rights in heavily Democrat states. The only way progressives can stop them is by harnessing their own inner bastard and fighting them in an all-out battle of the bastards.” |
| “On the plus side, we don’t live in America. Trump is America’s problem, not ours.” | “On the plus side, we don’t live in America. Trump is America’s problem, not ours.” |
| “Jesus, he’s going to kill the world.” | “Jesus, he’s going to kill the world.” |
| “In both the EU referendum and the US election, it was frequently those communities who had most to lose from overturning the status quo who voted in large numbers for change. This is a cry to be heard that needs to be addressed. Whole sections of the electorate have been taken for granted and the events of the past six months tell us there is a forgotten majority out there that needs to be treated with respect.” | “In both the EU referendum and the US election, it was frequently those communities who had most to lose from overturning the status quo who voted in large numbers for change. This is a cry to be heard that needs to be addressed. Whole sections of the electorate have been taken for granted and the events of the past six months tell us there is a forgotten majority out there that needs to be treated with respect.” |
| “Idiots.” | “Idiots.” |
| “The media establishment – the national press and the mainstream TV networks – didn’t do its job properly. In the interests of ‘impartiality’, it didn’t challenge blatant lies and ducked engagement with the issues. Instead, it gave undue prominence to mavericks, resulting in free publicity for the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. The onus fell back on voters to use the internet to fact-check speeches and to call out falsehoods.” | “The media establishment – the national press and the mainstream TV networks – didn’t do its job properly. In the interests of ‘impartiality’, it didn’t challenge blatant lies and ducked engagement with the issues. Instead, it gave undue prominence to mavericks, resulting in free publicity for the likes of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. The onus fell back on voters to use the internet to fact-check speeches and to call out falsehoods.” |
| “The internet was full of crap fake news that skewed the arguments and fed everyone the prejudiced viewpoints they were looking for. If you want proper news analysis, go buy a newspaper.” | “The internet was full of crap fake news that skewed the arguments and fed everyone the prejudiced viewpoints they were looking for. If you want proper news analysis, go buy a newspaper.” |
| “Too much time was spent on identity politics. We should stop labelling voters.” | “Too much time was spent on identity politics. We should stop labelling voters.” |
| “Idiots.” | “Idiots.” |
| We have become a planet of separatists, ready to run from whoever disagrees or to insult anyone who might offend us | We have become a planet of separatists, ready to run from whoever disagrees or to insult anyone who might offend us |
| I could go on. What’s clear is that it’s no failure not to have a completely coherent view of what has happened. Confusion is understandable. Confusion has just won office. So, while the great clouds of dust settle, here’s no more than a tentative description of some of the things I see shaping up through the fog. | I could go on. What’s clear is that it’s no failure not to have a completely coherent view of what has happened. Confusion is understandable. Confusion has just won office. So, while the great clouds of dust settle, here’s no more than a tentative description of some of the things I see shaping up through the fog. |
| We don’t engage with difference. We retreat to our safe spaces, to communicate only with people whose cultural choices or economic circumstances match our own. We “friend” those who are like us and we boycott, block, non-platform or unsubscribe those whose views differ from ours. We have become a planet of separatists, ready to run from whoever disagrees or insult anyone who offers the faintest possibility they might offend us. They are racist, deplorable, lefties, luvvies, elitists, thugs or idiots. We retreat to our cults of Corbyn and Farage, Sanders and Trump, and see no point engaging with the diminished minds of those who follow another argument. Too frequently, our solution to a problem is to run from anyone we associate with that problem. | We don’t engage with difference. We retreat to our safe spaces, to communicate only with people whose cultural choices or economic circumstances match our own. We “friend” those who are like us and we boycott, block, non-platform or unsubscribe those whose views differ from ours. We have become a planet of separatists, ready to run from whoever disagrees or insult anyone who offers the faintest possibility they might offend us. They are racist, deplorable, lefties, luvvies, elitists, thugs or idiots. We retreat to our cults of Corbyn and Farage, Sanders and Trump, and see no point engaging with the diminished minds of those who follow another argument. Too frequently, our solution to a problem is to run from anyone we associate with that problem. |
| So maybe it’s good that confusion reigns at the moment. If someone is confused they hold two contradictory opinions at once. If they do that, then at least, if ever so briefly, they know what it’s like to hold an opposing point of view. That’s the only hope we have – to enter an opponent’s sphere of ideas and try to understand why they might be thinking the way they do. | So maybe it’s good that confusion reigns at the moment. If someone is confused they hold two contradictory opinions at once. If they do that, then at least, if ever so briefly, they know what it’s like to hold an opposing point of view. That’s the only hope we have – to enter an opponent’s sphere of ideas and try to understand why they might be thinking the way they do. |
| I have no dramatic conclusion. Just small suggestions. You read the Observer. Read the Telegraph as well. Swap the New Statesman for the Spectator or vice versa. If you’re a student offended by something the Mail says, don’t ban it. Keep reading it. You saw I, Daniel Blake and were appalled by the abuse suffered by those who want to work but are stymied by an abusive system; don’t just screen it to Momentum supporters, organise a screening for Conservative councillors. And can someone in the tech industry design an app that hooks you up with people who have completely different political opinions and cultural tastes from you? Call it Pondr or something. | I have no dramatic conclusion. Just small suggestions. You read the Observer. Read the Telegraph as well. Swap the New Statesman for the Spectator or vice versa. If you’re a student offended by something the Mail says, don’t ban it. Keep reading it. You saw I, Daniel Blake and were appalled by the abuse suffered by those who want to work but are stymied by an abusive system; don’t just screen it to Momentum supporters, organise a screening for Conservative councillors. And can someone in the tech industry design an app that hooks you up with people who have completely different political opinions and cultural tastes from you? Call it Pondr or something. |
| I’m serious. Make contact with an “opponent”. It could be you end up meeting someone with the same puzzled look on their face as your own while saying they’re just as confused as you are. | I’m serious. Make contact with an “opponent”. It could be you end up meeting someone with the same puzzled look on their face as your own while saying they’re just as confused as you are. |