How the lunatics took over the asylum

The lunatics have often taken over the asylum. In the 1960s, they promoted wholesale social irresponsibility. With utter perversity, this was declared to be “the Left”. In the 1980s, such principles were extended to economics. Those principles’ own internal logic compelled this. And anyway, the teenagers of the 1960s came of age economically in the 1980s.

The mass movement that had safeguarded conservative values against capitalism, by including everyone in communitarian structures, had been supplanted by the small but noisy campaign for sex and drugs. And then the mass movement that had constantly reminded everyone why capitalism at least needed to be tempered, and why communitarian structures were necessary, was also supplanted. This time, the small but noisy campaign was for sex and drugs to be available on the “free” market, operating without reference to social, cultural or political considerations. With utter perversity, this was declared to be “the Right”.

If the State has no business regulating sex or drugs, then it has no business regulating anything else; or vice versa. The logic is impeccable, and the consequences are devastating for any economy, any society, any culture, and any body politic.

Today, “the Left” is presented as having “won” the social “battles”, and “the Right” as having “won” the economic “battles”. This model is so fragile that the slightest dissent from it at home or abroad is denounced in the most hysterical terms and suppressed with utter ruthlessness. Yet every detail of our constitution must be altered to conform to it. Indeed, it is deemed to be so self-evident that must now be imposed on the rest of the world, even by force of arms. The hippies always did believe in the inherent superiority and finality of their views. It is just that they now control weapons and armed forces with which to impose them. So they do.

Thus, for the third time since the Second World War, the lunatics have taken over the asylum. When and how will we sane people take it back?