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Samizdata quote of the day – How Big Government makes us more politically angry

“…there is surely no doubt that politics has a bitter tone, a harsher edge, a public unpleasantness that occasionally spills over into crisis or just onto the streets. Why is this so? It’s nothing to do with social media. It’s nothing to do with “populism”. It’s none of the fashionable solutions. It’s simple. Politics is more polarised than ever before because more is at stake in politics than ever before. When is a lot is at stake, people argue more loudly. They are less willing to accept defeat. They want their views pressed hard.”

David Frost, Daily Telegraph (£)

His article is entitled “Blame the Big State For Our Polarisation Crisis.”

3 comments to Samizdata quote of the day – How Big Government makes us more politically angry

  • Paul Marks

    Yes – David Frost is correct.

    Thank you, Johnathan Pearce, for posting this.

  • The Pedant-General

    “They are less willing to accept defeat”

    I would say it’s because the platitudes of the political class are becoming ever more visibly out of kilter with the actual reality on the ground.

    People see that the reality on the ground is fast trending away from where they want it to go. Defeat now looks like it’s not “the other lot having a chance” and more “a total unravelling of 150 years of the social contract”.

    That’s not a defeat you can accept. But it starts with the disconnect from reality.

  • DP

    Dear Mr Pearce

    All governments are evil, but some governments are more evil than others.

    As government grows, it devolves into a squabble over how it will squander the product of its livestock.

    DP

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