The breaking of the spell

There is no more mush to push

It’s been observed that much modern political discourse involves taunting people into saying things which are true, but nevertheless carry a social cost to say. This has proven an especially successful tactic in England, where deep-seated politeness codes and a cultural aversion to directness influences the country’s politics. People go from saying untrue things out of politeness, to saying untrue things because they’re scared of repercussions, and they often hardly notice the change.

Shame is an effective tactic, and the system continues to function so long as enough people fear the consequences of expressing their views. Paradigms collapse when citizens lose their faith in the system, but also when they lose their fear.

That appears to be happening in Britain, and Dominic Cummings recently talked about how a ‘spell’ over the British public had been broken; I think there may be something to that, even if I’m less pessimistic about Britain’s prospects than many on the Right (I’ve no idea how that happened).