Show Notes
There are many things that are depressing about the modern culture wars, but none more so than the war on the past. There is a concerted, fierce and increasingly successful effort to not just make us ashamed of our history, but to disconnect us from it entirely.
How did this war start, and more importantly, how can it be won by defenders of Western civilisation? To answer these questions, Will is joined by sociologist, author, and commentator Frank Furedi. Frank's new book is titled, "The War on the Past: Why the West Must Fight for its History."
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More from Fire at Will
Politics shouldn't be a team sport, but it has become one. Far too many of us blindly support politicians or parties as opposed to critically assessing ideas and policies. Where has this tribalism come from, how has it got so bad, and what do we do about it?
The Economist recently described Germany as "the hole at the heart of Europe". That's a reasonable description, particularly given it accounts for a quarter of the EU's output, but it has been in recession for the past two years. Another way to look at it is that Germany is a representation of Europe, and all of its challenges.
Whilst illiberal progressivism (or woke for short) appears to be in retreat, what will take its place is an open question. The right in the UK has splintered, Europe is still being suffocated by the weight of the leftist social democratic model, free speech is under assault in Australia (as it is pretty much everywhere), and whilst the Republicans are resurgent in the US, Trump's brand of economic protectionism would have been anathema to the American right in years gone by.
There's an interesting historical pattern in British politics, and you can see it in various shapes and forms since the days of William the Conqueror. About once every century, there is a realignment that completely changes the nature of politics in the country. The last great realignment was the 1922 election, with the Liberal Party falling to third-party status, the Conservatives establishing themselves as the largest party in Parliament, and Labour emerging as the undisputed opposition party.
In the last month, the grooming gangs scandal has gone from being the UK's worst-kept secret to its greatest source of national shame. From at least the 1990s, and likely long before then, criminal networks comprised almost entirely of Pakistani Muslim men prostituted, raped and tortured thousands of young girls in towns and cities across the UK. And the authorities, despite being aware of what was happening, did very little to intervene. UK citizens, and indeed the world, quite rightly want to know why.