Liberal sore losers don’t respect democracy
Liberal sore losers don’t respect democracy
What’s so alarming is the way that political and ideological disputes are driving many into positions where minds are closed against evidence in a culture war which brooks no deviation.
Speaking from my own experience, it’s apparently not possible to want to see rapists locked up and oppose the destruction of the presumption of innocence by #MeToo; to stand up against the West’s appeasement of Islamism and criticise Tommy Robinson; to be appalled by the psychological and other flaws of President Trump and acknowledge that he has achieved some good and even admirable things for America.
If you support the second of these positions, your support of the first is deemed to be null and void. You are not allowed to subscribe to both. On many issues, people are digging ever deeper into positions that admit no complexity or nuance. This is taking a politically fundamental turn. Until now, belief in democracy has entailed understanding that sometimes you will be outvoted by those with contrary views. This is now being challenged by the belief that if the democratic system doesn’t give you what you want, you should change the system.
To read my whole Times column (£), please click here.
