Cultural Amnesia

What if there’s a 30 year cycle of political will?

The visionary post-war settlement, forged during and in the immediate aftermath of the second world war, endured from the ’45 election until the mid-70s, when the costs of corporatism (exemplified most obviously by the excessive power of the trade unions) collided with an economic crisis (most obviously the oil crises of the early 70s) to comprehensively tip the balance.

With the settlement dismantled, there followed a few years of chaos – IMF bail out; winter of discontent – before the new visionary arrives in the form of Thatcher.

The Thatcherite model endures from the 82/83 phase, until – well, until about now – when the costs of individualism (bankers bonuses, corporations avoiding tax) collide with an economic crisis (which hardly needs spelling out) to once again tip the balance.

We are in the ‘few years of chaos’.  All we need now is the new visionary.

And don’t worry: it’s not Farage.

[If there's a photo down here it was added August 2017 as part of blog refresh.  Photo is either mine or is linked to where I found it. Make of either what you will.]