08/06/2026
'Some of us tend . . . to politicise everything. To turn every aspect of human interaction into a matter of politics. . . .
In an era without purpose, and in a universe without clear meaning, this call to politicise everything and then fight for it has an undoubted atrtraction. It fills life with meaning, of a kind.
But of all the ways in which people can find meaning in their lives, politics - let alone politics on such a scale - is one of the unhappiest. Politics may be an important aspect of our lives, but as a source of personal meaning it is disastrous. Not just because the ambitions it strives after nearly always go unachieved, but beause finding purpose in politics laces politics with a passion - including a rage - that perverts the whole enterprise. . . But if one party finds their whole purpose in life is to reside in some aspect of that disagreement, then the chances of amicability fade fast and the likelihood of reaching any truth recedes.
One of the ways to distance ourselves from the madnesses of our times is to retain an interest in politcs but not to rely on it as a source of meaning.
A sense of purpose is found in working out what is meaningful in our lives and then orientating ourselves over times as closely as possible to those centres of meaning. Using ourselves up on identity politics, social justice and intersectionality is a waste of a life.
To assume that s*x, s*xuality and skin colour mean nothing would be ridiculous. But to assume that they mean everything would be fatal.'
Douglas Murray - The Madness of Crowds.
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