A crumbling Labour party may initially have a large majority, but we've learned from the last couple of years that a large majority is fully compatible with political prowess and chaos. I'm not at all confident that Labour will after it takes power. But in any case, even in the British case, there aren't the resources and the economic costs would be too great to do it against the background of severe austerity. So it's actually quite dangerous. Because as we talked about the mood of the grown-ups back in charge, but then they were never grown-ups and they're even less authoritative and more befuddled now. And also frightened themselves because they know the limitations.
Freddie Sayers meets philosopher John Gray.
John Gray was the prophet of the postliberal age, describing global capitalism as a false utopia as early as 1998. In his most recent writing, he has returned to geopolitics, and has described the populist moment, the pandemic, and the growing threat of superpower conflict as existential threats to the liberal, technocratic order.
Amid this chaos, Rishi Sunak — former Goldman Sachs banker — has become Britain’s new prime minister. Has the technocratic order of the 2010s returned? Or has the modern world moved beyond its reach?
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