Apathy and excitement: the two faces of control

 

How does a party maintain power and control even when its policies are failing? Our government, whether on PPE procurement, care homes or exams is certainly failing, but remains strong in the polls. How?

There seem to be two factors at play, at the most general level, and neither have to do with policy. A quick review of human traits will reveal that we can at times be highly excited or, for longer periods, apathetic and disinterested. Both can be manipulated in the service of overriding our objections to poor governance.

The former is the more familiar. We are used to the provocations to take sides in culture wars fomented by our Vote Leave government. The latest pointless excuse to proclaim our colours is the “ban” on Rule Britannia at the Proms. It should be obvious to anyone familiar with Cummings that this was a put-up job. It followed the time-honoured pattern of baiting, escalation and finally topping off with ministerial statements, including in this case one from the prime minister. These storms of outrage have a quality useful to the government. They are highly emotive.

Over the past few months, the news has been full of such stories. The biggest was probably BLM, from which we got to argue about statues, while the Covid-19 crisis has produced idiotic debates on mask wearing and anti-vaxxers. Yet we find it hard not to take sides. Our instinct is to huddle together if we feel threatened and retaliate from the safety of our group. With a bit of know-how, a small-scale war can be engineered by carefully prodding both groups into action.

To understand what the government gains from stoking these fires, remember that it has the overwhelming support of the billionaire press and broadcast services, including the BBC. The stories are guaranteed to be amplified, with a bias towards whatever position suits the government. The rolling news cycle thereby ensures a stream of stories closing in favour of the government, that nearly always gets the last word.

It stands to gain in at least three ways. First, it can associate itself with certain types of voter. BLM, for example, was often portrayed as an excess of political correctness that disrespected the rights of white people. From the flurry of stories emanating from the BLM protests, certain useful themes were taken up by the government. Above all else, it wrapped itself in the flag and declared its pride in our triumphant history. By doing so, it could speak to its white, working-class voters by appealing to their patriotism - without admitting that it also must be speaking to their strongly racist views.

Second, it can raise the emotional temperature to block intelligent debate. Given the ease with which we can be goaded into shouting at each other, the “dead cat” strategy is an obvious way of distracting us from thinking. The strategy is easy to implement. We are particularly vulnerable when the taunt includes some version of reminding us that we cannot win. The government statements, for example, claiming that we are world beaters - irrespective of our dismal performance - are designed to make us angry. We rant. We rave. How ludicrous, we say, but miss the underlying travesty, that private companies are being handed billions to fail or public servants are taking the can for government incompetence or corruption. If we are angry, we are not thinking.

Third, opponents of the government are forced to lose - repeatedly. There is no respite, no catharsis. The culture wars are rigged. Consequently, opponents of the government suffer exhaustion and demoralisation. The more stupid the minister, the more the insult hurts. Opponents to the government are battered into submission.

So, on the agitation side of the ledger, the government wins by exploiting every facet of its inbuilt advantages. It can even afford to leave some of the hard work to the press corps. They need no invitation to stir things up. And when there is a lull the keyboard warriors, perhaps under orders, step in with their trolling. It is a relentless and nihilistic approach to politics virtually empty of policy. Does anyone know what the Conservatives really believe in?

Alongside this onslaught, more insidious factors are at play. Voters have become disillusioned and carefree about what politicians are doing. Commentators argue that big economic shifts, such as globalisation, have made voters feel impotent. This was argued in an excellent new book Angrynomics [1]. The crash of 2008 almost certainly increased cynicism and reduced engagement. When Cameron and Osborne inflicted austerity on the people of the UK following the crash, the message was clear. The banks and financial institutions count for more than we do. Under such circumstances, what is the point of following politics? Governments do whatever they want, irrespective of what we know and understand.

With such disillusionment rife, unscrupulous politicians can exploit the void by reinventing themselves as entertainers. They no longer need to talk about policies because voters have given up listening. There follows a downward spiral. The media chase politicians for profit-making news and the politicians are happy to oblige them with high-octane stories. Trump’s America, powered by Fox News, is where this spiral leads.

The Tories, driven by Cummings, know all this. They preside over a nation whose faith in politics is broken. They know that most people do not understand or care what they are doing. In this light, their shocking incompetence only serves to reinforce the idea that politics is their prerogative, their right to do what they want. We can grumble if we want. For all the anger this government can stir up though, apathy is their real friend. It stops people from asking questions. It stops outbreaks of mass dissent. It enables them to grab power and wealth from under our noses.

To underline this point, remember how the 2019 election campaign was reduced to mindless slogans? Apathy is not interested in detail. The Labour Party’s election review [2] cited doorstop accounts of politics reduced to a crude personality contest; the loser being dumped on a hunch he would be less entertaining. Welcome to Big Brother.

We are therefore at the mercy of a two-pronged assault, one of which we hardly notice. Apathy is not something that just happens. It can be cultivated and nurtured. It facilitates the second line of attack. When we are provoked into taking sides, we will do so on the terms of the government. We will not fight over economic policy or climate change; we will fight over statues and masks and many other pointless things.

 

[1] Lonergan, E. and Blyth, M., n.d. Angrynomics.

[2] https://docs.labourtogether.uk/Labour%20Together%202019%20Election%20Review.pdf