In these conditions it is hardly surprising that students and youth, in general, are indifferent to the fate of nations beyond their reach.There are other, more fundamental reasons. After all, the French, Germans and Italians, old and young, remain vigilant in the face of attempts to "modernise" their welfare states. What makes this country different? Contrary to numerous mythologies, the Thatcher period was an age of insecurity that bred fear. The recessions coupled with casino capitalism generated a compulsive aggressiveness in the struggle for existence It was each person for themselves. Economic deregulation was accompanied by a triumphant ideological offensive that consigned the state to the dustbin.Political democracy stands in tension with an economy that spawns inequality. Democracy is the terrain in which the many select those who will rule over them; capitalism is the system in which a few determine the division of the spoils.
The institutional separation of the realm of politics from the realm of economics was once considered useful to stabilise the system No longer Economics is politics If you can play the market you can rule the world Businessmen are greatly in demand to run everything. In that sense, as Nigel Lawson noted presciently in 1995, New Labour is the true heir of Margaret Thatcher.Once the state had become a synonym for Satan and all his works, many of those growing up in the Eighties and Nineties were forced to rely on themselves Young people empathised a great deal with each other. Taught to regard state intervention as evil, they were attracted to those who promoted charities in order to aid good causes: Bob Geldof, the late Diana Spencer, the late Mother Teresa and Richard Branson (who gave a very good impression of being a charity).Dissent in Britain thus became atomised. It reflected a hostility to all traditional politics and was confined to single-issues related to the environment and animal rights. Most of these deserved to be supported, yet one couldn't help feeling something was missing.
I doubt whether most of those who were upset by the cramped living conditions in which calves were shipped to slaughter-houses in France ever spared a thought for the number of children who died in Iraq from malnutrition and lack of medicine as a direct result of the inhuman sanctions policy imposed by Washington.On another level, real comfort was sought by large numbers of young people in clubs that transformed the urban landscape of contemporary Britain Club-culture remains unashamedly escapist. The hedonist motto, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", is undoubtedly very popular Ignorance is Ecstasy. This indifference to the world of politics can lead to a subjectivity where criticism plays no role.A deep need to exercise power as an end in itself makes for a very superficial grasp of politics. Tony Blair's message to the effect that Saddam was an evil monster sitting on a lot of evil weapons and could destroy the world was a classic example of a dumbed-down politician speaking to a population he knew was largely ignorant of the history of the conflict and unconcerned by the fact that the US and Britain were isolated in the Arab World. What is frightening is the speed with which people began to repeat all this as a mantra, often adding for good measure that Saddam is the same or even worse than Hitler.A country mobilised for war by demagogy of this sort can, in a more disillusioned mood, become vulnerable to other and more consistent demagogues.
