Today, universal political ideas—and their champions—are in
retreat. We suspect ideologies the same way we suspect religion. Faith in markets, in worker solidarity, and even
in the West’s big one— that freedom of expression favors the truth—are thrown
around as accusations. Cynics are sure
they don’t sell. Optimists hope that uncontaminated social-economic data can drive
public discourse, forward.
Unhappily, bigotry isn’t retreating along with Matthew
Arnold’s Sea of Faith.
Tory backbenchers in Westminster, urban reformers in
Toronto, Quebec progressives all too often work from a common script: Those
Europeans, those knuckle-draggers in the suburbs, and those polluters in
Alberta are holding us back. If they got out of the way, we could make this a
far, far, better place. (Of Course, along with our lousy neighbors, there is always
the divisive state of American politics to reassure us that we are civil and
that things could be worse.)
These new grievances, however, are the grievances of true
believers who are failing at home.
The right-wing backbench of the British Conservative Party
has made little progress de-regulating the British economy since Margaret
Thatcher’s first term—over thirty years ago. Instead of asking the British
people to shrink their own government
once again, the Economist
reports, they rail against the bureaucrats of the European Union. They
seem to believe that if Britain got out of Europe, British voters would
unreservedly embrace those famous British market principles they have so often
compromised in the past.
Quebec progressives claim that widespread concern in Quebec over
climate change is an expression of ‘Quebec values’ and promptly solve the
problem by saying oil producers in Alberta should pay higher taxes.
In Toronto, this week, downtown Councilor Adam Vaughan
suggested that one way to repair a freeway that links Toronto’s core to its
regional suburbs—and workforce—would be to sell the whole freeway to the
private sector. Supposedly, it would go for $billions, if the City allowed the
new owners to levy commercial tolls. Last year, Vaughan’s allies rejected out
of hand selling the downtown’s precious subway or electrical utility, or asking
for the privilege of raising revenues by imposing pollution taxes on
Torontonians.
The old divisions that were driven by big ideas were not
consistently more attractive or safer. However, they weren’t only defensive and
they didn’t consistently divide people geographically or stereotype the other. And,
above all, their leaders could challenge their own voters and compromise their
own interests.
Too often, today’s troublemakers, on both scores, are simply
smaller.
