May I just thank acatinjapan and mathanxiety for the thoughtful responses to my post?
I often find myself admiring cat's turn of phrase:
It's been extraordinary - and meanwhile the transfer of wealth into fewer hands goes on, the gross exploitation of the least protected grinds on, Brexit, with its extraordinary potential to accelerate the previous 2 situations, grinds on ... against a carnival of emotionality and what is rapidly descending into a vacuous simulacrum of progressivism, that actually effects the opposite of political liberation.
I think this captures really well what I've been feeling over the past few weeks - the emotional pull and response to the outright racism and misogyny particularly on social media, and in quiet moments the realisation that this shitstorm is drowning out a lot of other important issues. Should I start donning my tinfoil hat, or isn't it convenient to see how well it suits some interests to deflect attention from any number of other issues (Covid, Brexit, Cummings, Jenrick etc etc)? Incidentally, on the Jenrick scandal, am I the only one who was struck at how cheap it was to nobble the deal?
Math I actually read that Pomerantsev article as acknowledging that comparing Russia with Western style democracy was a 'looking from pig to man and man to pig' moment. I picked out the para mentioning stability because of its echoes with Theresa May's similarly empty rhetoric - I don't think a day goes by on Twitter without someone longing for chaos with Ed Miliband.
Anyway, a big thank you to RedToothbrush for continuing these threads. Like very many women I know who have opinions on politics, it can feel unduly risky to air them in most places on the internet. I don't mind at all being politely challenged and disagreed with, however given how upsetting I've found some of the abuse aimed mainly at women on Twitter this week, I'm not feeling emotionally resilient enough currently to engage in mudslinging.