I think I have seen Nigel Farage’s future, and it is not pretty. A copy of Farage’s The Purple Revolution reached my desk today. The cover instantly reminded me of a cover manifesto for Ron Paul, the once inspiring libertarian radical who has turned into something of a crank. On Farage’s book, the word LOVE has been mirrored on to the word Revolution. Ron Paul posters used to employ the same silly trick. As did Russell Brand. It is becoming a sort of logo for anti-establishment feeling. It is also hilariously crap.
‘Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket,’ said Eric Hoffer. The quote certainly fits American conservatism, which had noble roots but is now more a mechanism for selling books and gold to stupid people. Might Ukip be going through a similar process? Like Farage, Ron Paul at first seemed to stand for something different — and he developed a comparably popular cult around his personality. (Though Paul has a certain humility about him; I am not sure the same could be said for Nige.)
Paul stood against everything that was wrong with the Right: the stupid wars, the social engineering dressed up as conservatism, all that. But he has become a sad joke — a radio shock jock, a doddery star guest in the Tea Party’s craziest marquees. He only makes headlines now when he embarrasses his son Rand, who is aiming to be the Republican party nominee for the presidential elections in 2016.
Is something similar happening to Farage? Of course, he prefers to compare himself to the younger and more successful Paul. In his book he calls Rand his ‘political doppelganger’. Like Rand, Farage looks as if he will make an impact in the next election — and many of us would be thrilled if Britain’s political elite got a fright on May 7.
But when you look at Farage’s curious world and some of his hangers on, you can’t help wonder if someday soon, we will look back and scoff. Ukippers relish being dismissed as a joke; we’ll show them, they think. They could be right. Their leader could end up changing the British political landscape. Or he could end up cashing in and ranting about central banks on the midnight slot for Russia Today. Which will it be?
PS. The ever inventive Peter Robins has come up with this alternative take on the design for Al Murray’s South Thanet campaign:
Comments