The authentic voice of despair

Perhaps it is the same up north, but down here in London, the leftists are plumbing new depths of angst and despair. In today's Guardian, Madeleine Bunting provided a typical offering of this doom-mongering.

Here are a few choice quotes from an archetypal miserablist:

"Market dogma is exposed as myth. Where is the new vision to unite us?With religion outmoded and society fragmented, it will require a different kind of moral narrative to inspire change."

"We must correct a generation of abdication to the market of all measures of value."

"The possibility of change – of radically reforming the institutions that have so betrayed trust – is slipping between our fingers."

The problem is a near sense of desperation as to how this is to come about, as current prescriptions offered by all political parties are emptied of meaning and credibility.

"Every other modern narrative – communism, socialism, even those that were destructive, such as neoliberalism and fascism – laid claim to a version of the kingdom of God, a better world that would nurture a better human being. They were all narratives of redemption and salvation. All that we have now is apocalypse, and it is paralysing."

This last quote is a true gem of deception. Notice the distinction between the four "modern narratives". Only neoliberalism and fascism are destructive. Communism and socialism get a free pass. Would the Kulaks see it that way?

Oh, woe, woe, thrice woe! Could the source of this misery be that New Labour are about to face the electorate?