The strange death of ideology | Prospect Magazine

The virus is compelling our leaders to alter their habits, even their beliefs, in real time... a global battering of ideology. Proudly liberal democracies are instituting police states and economically conservative governments are applying de facto socialism... Brexit... derived its entire force from privileging political ideals over economics... a feeling of our lost and rightful place in the world...

In the long term... we may have less interest in symbolic trade deals than in self-preservation... Brexit’s calling cards of control, risk-taking and a fabled “Blitz spirit” are shedding their nostalgic lustre... sovereignty and standing alone no longer feel so romantic...

We could start to question things not for how they correspond to our belief systems but how they will change our everyday lives... we may f... try to return to exactly how we were ... Perhaps ideologies will grow more bitter and entrenched. Perhaps ... a new pragmatic age... some will cling to the devils they know, others... to rebuild ... from scratch...

Adaptability is not a weakness... yet in the political world ... seen as fecklessness or weak... crisis demonstrates the nonsense of adhering to a series of policies whatever happens