The Ghost Walks

When the Berlin Wall was pulled down in 1989, the event was regarded as the most significant development in 20th century politics; it sent a clear signal that communism was dead. The emerging countries behind the Iron Curtain had to come to terms with a new politics - and former Warsaw Pact citizens were having to adapt - emotionally and psychologically - to an entirely different landscape: one where the State no longer held its paternalistic sway. The difficulties encountered by individuals in the transition from dependence on the State and its institutions to liberal democracy must never be underestimated; for those who had lived with communism all their lives, it was a difficult adjustment to make. For the first time, people were forced to take responsibility for themselves because the State apparatus was no longer present to support them. Since that time, many of the Eastern European nations have been integrated into the European Union, and free movement of citizens within EU boundaries has been in evidence in the UK and elsewhere.

But while these quantum changes were in progress, the furniture in the West was slowly and gently being rearranged; subtle changes were being introduced through the mass media in an attempt to change the attitudes and perceptions of the Western populace. Political correctness - generally associated with and attributed to the Labour Party - actually started to emerge in the UK during the long years of Conservative governance. New taboos were being insidiously introduced through the institutions of the press, local authorities and the BBC, and in the fulness of time it became a social misdemeanour to express any opinions contrary to the received orthodoxy. For example, any semblance of racial preference - or criticism of certain selected minority social groups - was frowned upon. At first, no one was sure of the origin of these new social mores. As time passed, legislation was introduced to formalise and codify these new values. The result of this is that while 3 decades ago the National Front was tolerated by the majority - albeit superciliously regarded as a fringe party of bigoted nationalists - its successor, the British National Party, has been systematically demonised by all corners of the political establishment. A cultural transformation has taken place that has eroded long-held values of tolerance. There are regular reports to be read in right-wing tabloids like the Daily Mail of the discrimination of local police or councils against individuals who have held a principled stand for their beliefs. Christians who have publicly expressed their beliefs have been a favourite target by the zealous enforcers of the New Orthodoxy. As we direct our gaze to other European nations and North America, we see the same pattern emerging, a similar orthodoxy in place and similar repressions of those who publicly call it to question.

So, what is actually happening? Why is it that these developments have been taking place elsewhere? Is this part of some unavoidable process attributable to 'change' or 'progress?' The architects of this international cultural change would certainly like that to be the recognised perception. Yes - there are architects behind these value changes that have been foisted onto the public consciousness; they are the disciples of past intellectual masters: Plato, Hegel, Marx, Engels, Foucault and Gramsci - to name but a few. When we couple these social value changes with developments in the global political scene, a clearer picture comes into focus. When political leaders talk about a Common Purpose - and to be sure, Obama and Cameron and their illustrious predecessors have done so - we can be sure that they have a specific goal in mind - one which is hidden from public perception, but abundantly evident if one takes the time and trouble to look. The goal is Communitarianism, where the dictatorship of the community has replaced the dictatorship of the proletariat. The objective is the disenfranchisement and impoverishment (financially, intellectually, socially, spiritually and morally) of the majority by the wealthy and powerful few. A new landscape of poverty, hardship, heavy taxation awaits - while the political classes have untold opportunities to indulge their penchant for the quick buck and the privileges that accompany their role in the new order. Mark Twain said that a cauliflower is a cabbage with a college education. Communitarianism is Communism with ribbons - and some extra letters added. It is on its way. The ghost walks - but then perhaps it never really died in the first place.