The revolution the West needs (and won’t get)

The western world is a mess. The ‘advanced’ economies are failing to generate higher living standards for the majority of citizens. Many of us believe, rightly, that our children and grandchildren will have less prosperous lives than we do. That not only runs counter to the tide of western history, but jars with natural human instincts, creating a deep sense of unease.

The public no longer trusts the political classes to deliver a brighter future, so lots of us don’t vote. In the European elections, only two fifths of voters bothered casting their ballot. Many of those who did, of course, abandoned mainstream parties for the extremes.

The common western problem isn’t a housing shortage, deteriorating infrastructure or immigration fears — although such issues are widespread and must clearly be addressed. The underlying problem in Britain, across Europe and in America, too, is more general yet somehow more arcane: we’re living in an age of bloated, deeply dysfunctional and often counter-productive government.