Drowning
in filth
Post-truth politics and the age of outrage
By Ian Hislop
A
nyone who thinks that “post- No wonder Trump is an admirer of only other opinions, but also facts offered
truth politics” is anything Vladimir Putin, who is an admirer of the by those who disagree with them. When
new needs to be reminded Soviet strongmen whom Orwell satirised confronted by a dissenting voice, people get
that George Orwell was writ- so well. These echoes from the past are very offended and then angry. They do not want
ing about this phenomenon 70 strong in America at present but there are to argue, they want the debate to be shut
years before Donald Trump. plenty of them reverberating through Brit- down. Trump supporters are furious with
Audiences listening to President-Elect ish and European politics as well. Our For- anyone who expresses reservations about
Trump’s extraordinary disregard for any- eign Secretary managed to accuse other Eu- their candidate. Pro-Brexit supporters are
thing resembling objective truth – and his ropean leaders of a “whinge-o-rama” when furious with anyone who expresses doubts
astonishing ability to proclaim the abso- they issued qualified statements of con- about the way the process of leaving the Eu-
lute opposite today of what he said yes- gratulation to the new president-elect, even ropean Union is going.
terday – will be forcibly reminded of the though he himself had previously accused I edit the magazine Private Eye, which
slogans that George Orwell gave to his Trump of being “nuts”. Black is White, Re- I sometimes think Orwell would have dis-
political dictators: Black is White, War main is Leave, a Wall is a Fence, two plus missed as “a tuppeny boys’ fortnightly”,
is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is two equals five: but Brexit means Brexit. and after the recent legal challenge to the
Strength (the last of which turned out to be You may find this reassuring, in that we government about Article 50 being put be-
true in the US election). But any journalist have been here before and survived – or fore parliament, we published the cover re-
trying to work out what the speeches actu- distressing to think that we are regressing produced on page 25.
ally mean, amidst the mad syntax and all to a grimmer Orwellian age. But one of the It was a fairly obvious joke, a variant of
the repetition (“gonna happen, gonna hap- worrying developments attached to these the “wheels coming off” gag. But it led to a
pen”), cannot help but fall back on Orwell’s “post-truth” political figures is the increas- large postbag of complaints, including a let-
contention that “political chaos is connect- ing intolerance in public debate of dissent ter from a man who said he thought the cov-
ed with the decay of language”. And the – or even disagreement – about what objec- er was “repulsive”. He also said he wanted
sight of Trump praising Secretary Clinton tive truth might be. to come around and smash up the office and
for her years of public service in his post- A great deal has been written recently then shove our smug opinions so far up our
election victory speech while the crowd about the influence of social media in help- arses that we choked our guts out.
was still chanting his campaign catchphrase ing people to become trapped in their own There was one from a vicar, too, who told
of “Lock her up” was surely a perfect exam- echo chambers, talking only to those who me that it was time to accept the victory of
t
ple of Doublethink. reinforce their views and dismissing not the majority of the people and to stop
22 | NEW STATESMAN | 2-8 DECEMBER 2016
RALPH STEADMAN
T
he right to tell people what they In the unpublished preface to Animal debate if everyone is just agreeing with
do not want to hear is still the Farm he writes: each other.
basis of freedom of expression. If The proposer and the opposer
that sounds like I am stating the The issue involved here is quite a immediately agree to call security and
obvious – I am. But, in my defence, simple one: Is every opinion, however have the audience ejected from the
Orwell once wrote in a review of a book by unpopular – however foolish, even – debating hall.
entitled to a hearing? Put it in that form And so it goes on, until the motion
Bertrand Russell published in the Adelphi
and nearly any English intellectual is carried unanimously.
magazine in January 1939: will feel that he ought to say “Yes”.
. . . we have now sunk to a depth at which But give it a concrete shape, and ask, This was dismissed as “sneering” and,
the restatement of the obvious is the first “How about an attack on Stalin? Is that inevitably, “fascist” by a number of stu-
t
duty of intelligent men. entitled to a hearing?”, and the answer dent commentators. Yet it was only a
2-8 DECEMBER 2016 | NEW STATESMAN | 25
t
“Knock knock!”
“Who’s there.” Funny peculiar: Private Eye’s cartoon provoked a decidedly mixed reaction – from one reader
“The secret police.”
the decades, but I have found in Private Eye grant/top up/dole payment do you lot get
What do you call a satirist in Turkey?
An ambulance.
that there is not much fury from the Tory, from the EU anyway? Are you even a Brit-
New Labour or Liberal camps when their ish publication?”
As Orwell wrote in even more dangerous leaders or policies are criticised, often in In 1948, in an essay in the Socialist Leader,
times, again in the proposed preface: much harsher ways than the newer, popu- Orwell wrote:
list movements.
. . . the chief danger to freedom of thought Threats to freedom of speech, writing and
and speech at this moment is not the action, though often trivial in isolation,
S
o, when Private Eye suggested that
direct interference of the [Ministry of are cumulative in their effect and, unless
some of the claims that the Scottish
Information] or any official body. If checked, lead to a general disrespect for
National Party was making for the the rights of the citizen.
publishers and editors exert themselves
to keep certain topics out of print,
future of an independent Scotland
it is not because they are frightened might be exaggerated, there were In other words, the defence of freedom of
of prosecution but because they are one or two readers who quoted Orwell’s speech and expression is not just special
frightened of public opinion. distinction between patriotism being the pleading by journalists, writers, commen-
love of one’s country and nationalism be- tators and satirists, but a more widespread
I return to stating the obvious, because it ing the hatred of others – but on the whole conviction that it protects “the intellec-
seems to be less and less obvious to some of it was mostly: “When if ever will you igno- tual liberty which without a doubt has
the current generation. This is particularly rant pricks on the Eye be sharp enough to been one of the distinguishing marks of
true for those who have recently become burst your smug London bubble?” Western civilisation”.
politically engaged for the first time. Vot- Those who disagreed with the SNP were In gloomy times, there was one letter
ers energised by Ukip and the EU referen- beneath contempt if English and traitors to Private Eye that I found offered some
dum debate, or by the emergence of Jeremy if Scottish. This was matched by the sheer cheer – a willingness to accept opposing
Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party, or by fury of the Corbyn loyalists at coverage of viewpoints and some confirmation of a be-
the resurgence of Scottish nationalism or his problems with opposition in his own lief in the common sense of Orwell’s com-
by the triumph of Trump, have the zeal of party. When we suggested that there might mon man or woman. In response to the car-
the newly converted. This is all very admi- be something a bit fishy about his video on toon above, our correspondent wrote:
rable, and a wake-up call to their opponents the lack of seats on the train to Newcastle,
– the Tartan Tories and the Remoaners and responses included: “I had hoped Private Dear sir,
I suffer from a bipolar condition and
the NeoBlairites and the Washington Lib- Eye was outside the media matrix. Have you
when I saw your cartoon I was absolutely
eral Elite – but it is not admirable when it handed over control to Rupert Murdoch?” disgusted. I looked at it a few days later and
is accompanied by an overpowering desire Their anger was a match for that of the thought it was hilarious. l
to silence any criticism of their ideas, poli- Ukippers when we briefly ran a strip called
cies and leading personalities. Perhaps the At Home With the Ukippers and then made Ian Hislop is the editor of Private Eye. This is
supporters of the mainstream parties have a few jokes about their leader Mr Farage: an edited version of his 2016 Orwell Lecture.
simply become accustomed to the idea over “Leave it out, will you? Just how much of For more details, visit: theorwellprize.co.uk
2-8 DECEMBER 2016 | NEW STATESMAN | 27
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