Across the pond, dire warnings are often intoned about something called Christian Nationalism. This is (we are told) a rising, virulent strain of theocratic fascism that fuses Christian dogma with sexism, ethnocentrism, and state power. Others, again, warn that this …
The toxic trope of ‘benefit scroungers’
The quickest way for a weak government to score cheap points with a sceptical electorate is to announce a load of stuff it’s going to “crack down” on. And so, in the past year we’ve had crackdowns on single-use vapes, …
How Bolshevism built modern Britain
Vladimir Lenin has a way of confounding Marxist historians, many of whom generally — and with good reason — attach odium to Great Man History. For he was that rare thing: an individual instigator of historical change. A hundred years …
Big Tech’s welfare dystopia
On December 10, 2020, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced a $15 million donation for a policy pilot across several American cities. About seven months earlier, America’s economy had cratered amid the Covid pandemic, leaving behind a workforce desperate for funds. …
Welcome to Britain’s Hungry Twenties
Last spring, Elsie, a 77-year-old widow asked ITV’s Good Morning Britain to solicit any advice that Boris Johnson might have about coping with poverty. It was duly explained to the then-Prime Minister that Elsie only ate one meal a day …