It was Francis Fukuyama’s End of History. This era had left a whole generation of politicians with three assumptions: that liberal global markets were the answer to prosperity that prosperity would spread democracy and that the world would be governed by a liberal global order. The polling graphs, which had brought Bill Clinton and Tony Blair to victory, looked like bell jars with the votes heaped in the centre, and few at the extremes. The majority of citizens believed their children would be better off than they were. The UK economy – rooted in privatisation, deregulation and globalisation – had generated the fastest-growing per capita GDP in the G6 and the second-highest productivity in the developed world. There was confidence in global efforts to address climate change and global poverty.
In Bosnia and Kosovo, international interventions had ended wars and brought war criminals to justice, at minimal cost to the west. The number of democracies in the world had doubled. This first 15 years of their political careers was a period of striking optimism and consensus – occasionally interrupted by scandal, and domestic crisis (cash for honours, foot-and-mouth and flooding). The key assumptions around globalisation, markets and prosperity were fatally undermined by the financial crisis of 2008 But in truth, they shared beliefs about the world, which they had developed during their 20s and early-30s: the period just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when they had left Oxford and become high-flying party aides and aspiring politicians. They had tried, for the sake of the election, to draw clear lines. Two Oxford-educated former special advisers in their mid to late 40s – David Cameron and George Osborne – had just defeated two Oxford-educated former special advisers in their mid to late 40s – Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. And, on the surface, the political universe seemed very stable. In the flood water in 2015 I felt like a minor player in Yes Minister or The Thick of It – part of an ancient tradition of underqualified and off-balance ministers wrapped in the old consensus of British politics. The only problem is that the water is coming over the top.” This idiotic line is then replayed across all the networks and is selected by Have I Got News for You as one of the political blunders of the year. Finally, I insist “the flood walls are working well. There are some earnest but imprecise attempts to link the flooding to climate change. Journalists are finding different ways of asking me how I could possibly have allowed this to happen. Behind me, in the halogen lights of a winter morning, rescuers in boats are drifting down Warwick Road in Carlisle, lifting families from upstairs windows.
My feet are wet and cold because I made the mistake of tucking my waterproof trousers into my wellies. Now it is just after dawn, and I have been dressed in an Environment Agency coat and a hi-vis jacket, and put in front of the television cameras. My notebook is filled with names and emails and requests from residents. Business owners are staring in horror at the destruction of their stockrooms and getting no response from the insurance agencies. The comments are property of their posters, all other content © Sea of Tranquility SoT is Hosted by SpeedSoft.Bloated corpses of sheep lie strewn across field edges. Please see our Policies Page for Site Usage, Privacy, and Copyright Policies.Īll logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owner. If you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
† = Staff Roundtable Review / ‡ = Reader CommentsĪrrayan Path: Apxeronoi (Archegonoi) (2 CDs)Īverhoff Jr, Carlos: Jazz Meets Cuban TimbaĪlain Bédard Auguste Quartet: Circum ContinuumĪuthur Vint & Associates: Through The BadlandsĪusterlitz, Paul: Water Prayers for Bass ClarinetĪrmed Cloud: Master Device & Slave MachinesĪaron Clift Experiment, The: If All Goes Wrongįor information regarding where to send CD promos and advertising, please see our FAQ page.
0 kommentar(er)
