
Thomas Piketty, taking the longer historical and wider geographical perspective, was optimistic that the trend was “toward more equality” (Face to Face, 24 January). However, the current situation, at least in the West, suggests we should be wary. Joe Powell in the same issue (Encounter) noted how financial infrastructure can be used by the wealthy to hold property assets in the UK, and Andrew Marr (Politics) noted that 11,000 millionaires left Britain last year (presumably, in many cases, to preserve their finances).
Today, wealth is both easily hidden and eminently portable. The wealthy increasingly live “bubble” existences, many seemingly with no attachment to country but only to self. There are honourable exceptions who engage in virtuous activity such as charitable acts, but there are many whose wealth is utilised in less virtuous (even parasitic) activity.
Before it’s too late, isn’t it time for a national conversation about our increasing levels of inequality, what it means for us all, for our nation and for the futures of our children?
Michael Haskell, Broughton, Flintshire
Red flag
Michael Sandel states that what the left needs is a “political vision that combines populism and patriotism” (Face to Face, 24 January). Though this may be a future strategy for the Democratic Party in the US, the formula does not translate to this side of the Pond. Where America venerates the flag and the national anthem, Britain has an abiding nostalgia for green fields and a National Health Service. Fairness, rather than flags. While Thomas Piketty is surely correct to portray the Democrats as having neglected their core support, there is a lesson here for our own Labour government if it wishes to repel populist insurgents.
Felicity McGowan, Cardigan
Means tested
George Eaton reports that the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, “stands accused of jeopardising the crowning achievement of the last Conservative government – England’s educational performance” (Morning Call, 27 January).
Yet there are reports of rising numbers of those not in education, employment or training (NEET), and an increase in knife attacks by teenagers. Has anyone researched if these stats are related to Michael Gove’s academic and exam-intensive changes to the education system? Or the extent to which success in rote learning correlates with creative future employment in green energy, data and AI – careers the government are keen to promote?
Roger Kemp, Lancaster
Democracy manifest
It is fascinating to learn that Maurice Glasman was the one Labour parliamentarian invited to the Trump inauguration (These Times, 24 January). If only leading Labour figures paid closer attention to some of his ideas. Glasman has argued that, “An election is not the will of the people; it is a national political decision that is legitimate until the next election… The only rule is that you have to do it again.”
If you accept that referendums can be classed as elections, then you have to consider Glasman’s assertion that such decisions are provisionally settled in a temporally revisable way via democracy. It then follows that Brexit is a provisional settlement, revisable by the electorate. The question is not whether but when?
Austen Lynch, Garstang, Lancashire
Decay in order
I read Bruno Maçães’s review of Robert D Kaplan’s book (The Critics, 24 January) with great interest. But I wonder if the premise, in terms of the decay of order and state power, is wrong.
The problems we face arise from the gaps in our collective understanding of how the world works and our place within it. Mass media and then the internet opened a Pandora’s Box of novel and conflicting views of the human experience. Only those with an exceptionally strong sense of “right” and “wrong” can escape the uncertainty most of us feel. I worry we are at risk of moving from a situation where this uncertainty affects our sense of ourselves. When people feel threatened, they can do anything.
This goes beyond what was happening in the Weimar Republic. Though I imagine Hitler did use that gap to whip up support. That aspect certainly feels familiar.
Dr Richard Crombie, Hutton Roof , Cumbria
Concision is the word
There are always lots of sentences worthy of special notice, but my current favourite is from Lee Siegel (American Affairs, 17 January): “But the elites of the Republican Party wouldn’t know the difference between Giorgio Agamben and Giorgio Armani.” This shows that well-chosen words can replace lengthy arguments.
William James Earle, New York City
Is water wet?
I enjoyed David Edmonds’ article on Hilary Putnam’s Twin Earth puzzle (Philosophy Matters, 24 January), but philosophical thought experiments can’t tell us much about the structure of thought if they have magical premises. Putnam’s substance XYZ cannot exist because there is not a molecule that can exactly replicate the functions of water – the conundrum only exists by fiat. And Henry Cavendish did not reveal water to be H2O, because he did not accept Lavoisier’s oxygen: he was a phlogistonist. So were Aristotle, Cavendish and Lavoisier all talking about the same “water”? And is it actually H2O anyway? That’s a complicated question, as historian of science Hasok Chang has shown. Philosophers and scientists have much to learn from one another, but only if they talk to each other.
Philip Ball, London SE22
Grin and beer it
Kevin Maguire talks of northern MPs “moaning into warm flat beer” (Commons Confidential, 24 January). While British cask beer is traditionally (and best) served not as cold as lager, at 11-14°C, it couldn’t be described as warm. As for flat beer in the north, that’s more of a southern thing, where cask beer is served sans sparkler. In the north the use of such a device ensures a tighter head for those that prefer it.
I’m sure if Kevin would like to learn more, I’d be happy to buy him a pint, served northern or southern style.
Ash Corbett-Collins, chairman, Campaign for Real Ale (Camra)
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[See also: David Kynaston and Francis Green: How Labour could win the battle over private education]
This article appears in the 29 Jan 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Class War