Britain’s Illuminating Choice

The energy crisis has provoked a populist response

Image credit: Forged Components

Thanks to ineradicable Western passivity in the face of Russian aggression, and thanks to an insane policy of relying on Russian hydrocarbons for 40% of its energy needs, Europe (which despite the stupidity of Brexit still necessarily includes the UK thanks to the unchangeable reality of geography), Europe is experiencing sky-high energy costs. As with SARS-CoV2, everyone is pretending that inane policies are “really” an inescapable outcome of factors beyond control and so soaring energy prices are being treated as an unchangeable fact of life rather than as something that could be eliminated if only the West was less terrified of Putin’s empty blustering.

Populism means always promising voters free ice-cream forever, with zero consequences. Populist lies are eagerly swallowed by millions of voters who are totally ignorant of even the most rudimentary facts of life, and simple-minded enough that empty soundbites and infantile lies appear to them as profound statements of fact. As representative democracy empowers these voters, it’s hardly surprising that we elect incompetent blustering halfwits and that these halfwits subsequently implement policies that shred economies and social structures. So it is with the energy crisis.