{"id":89086,"date":"2026-01-11T08:53:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T08:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=89086"},"modified":"2026-01-11T08:53:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T08:53:46","slug":"what-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2026\/01\/11\/what-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voltaire supposedly said:<\/p>\n

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The logic is that if people surrender their reason and accept illogical ideas, they become susceptible to manipulation, leading them to commit terrible acts, often stemming from false ideologies or dogma that overrides moral judgment.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the quotation is not strictly accurate: it paraphrases ideas in his book\u00a0Questions sur les miracles<\/em> (1765), although it does so correctly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why note this? Because it seems to me that neoliberalism has now led us to the point where fascism is the real risk. The acceptance of its absurdity across the political spectrum has paved the way for far-right extremism to follow, with mainstream politics gutted of its ability to respond.<\/p>\n

Robert Reich finished his Coffee Klatch<\/em> video yesterday, looking straight to the camera and saying that the USA is now a dictatorship.<\/p>\n

The risk of civil war in the US is now very obviously real as ICE oppose the state-controlled National Guard, local police and state and local politicians.<\/p>\n

And in the UK today, we have Robert Jenrick, the wannabe Tory leader who looks much more likely to defect to Reform. saying on X yesterday<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The fight against Islamism is the fight of our generation. It\u2019s a battle for the soul of the country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is very obviously absurd, but it is typical of the lies people have been fed about the society they live in and the political issues we supposedly face.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, lies are told, day in and day out, about the economy and what is possible within it, whilst the lie is told that the state is powerless, and we have politicians who have done their best to prove that point, whilst talking total nonsense to the media.<\/p>\n

Even as I write, Cabinet Minister Heidi Alexander is telling Trevor Phillips on Sky that the UK government wants people in Iran to enjoy the same right to protest that people in the UK have, which is not a lot then, given the extent of the crackdown on our human rights in this country by both Labour and the Tories.<\/p>\n

Time after time, the fact is that absurdities have been promulgated in neoliberal states by politicians either too indoctrinated to know what they are doing or too greedy to care.<\/p>\n

Now we see the result: atrocities can and are happening, and they are going to get worse.<\/p>\n

What can we do about this? That is the question, and right now I have not got a clear set of answers, as the descent into chaos is happening so rapidly.<\/p>\n

I would, in fact, be curious to know what you think. There is much that I am angry about, but what should I be concentrating on? Please offer suggestions. They will be appreciated.<\/p>\n

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What should I be concentrating my efforts on?<\/strong><\/p>