This is a wonderful new book by the author of THE STRANGE DEATH OF EUROPE. THE MADNESS OF CROWDS concerns the issues of gender, race and identity and the manner in which they have been weaponized and unendingly politicized, particularly in the west and particularly, as he notes, in those countries (the U.K., the U.S.) where the most progress has been made in countering original forms of prejudice. In contrast with societies where gay people are thrown off of buildings our societies are criticized as being homophobic to a catastrophic degree. How can this be so? How can we be accused of being most retrograde and reactionary when we are, in fact, most 'advanced' and 'progressive'?
This is the broad subject of the book. Some of the answers: when we come closer and closer to solving a problem the lingering existence of some aspects of that problem become progressively more intolerable. This is a fact of human nature. We continue to fight against as yet 'incurable' diseases but when we see individuals die of diseases which are quite curable we are enraged. This is an example of 'physical evil' being transformed into 'moral evil' where, for example, a curable disease kills people because corrupt politicians have chosen to enrich themselves rather than utilizing funds for the delivery of vaccines.
This is not DM's principal answer. The principal answer(s) are that the activities that we are witnessing are ultimately rooted in Marxist principles—the desire to perpetuate warfare and division in order to accumulate political power and personal recognition. All of the demands in favor of creating peace and brotherhood are, in fact, attempts to create and perpetuate division. Division creates jobs and it conveys that thymos or recognition that Francis Fukuyama saw as one of the principal desiderata of failed states.
To politicize everything is to destroy everything but that corrected intersectional polity which some social justice warriors argue for is, for many, a substitute religion. It offers a way to 'belong' at a time when traditional forms of religion and other traditional institutions have failed (and/or been undermined). Eric Hoffer made this point in his 1951 study, THE TRUE BELIEVER. Mass movements are the only way that some individuals can find meaning in their otherwise humdrum lives.
The problem is that the intersectional program is radically flawed, internally contradictory and rife with internal division. We are left, e.g., with a world in which biologically-male athletes who consider themselves to be female can eradicate opportunity for biologically-female athletes. DM gives the poignant example of biologically-male mixed-martial-arts athletes pummeling biological females until they are broken and bloodied, while at the same time the behaviors of men toward women (in, e.g., the 'workplace') are rigidly codified with hitherto-unknown shibboleths. The notion that men who strike women are to be condemned is quickly nullified if the 'man' in question wants to think of himself as 'female'. In fact, the man who 'gazes' at women is to be condemned while the 'man' who thinks of himself as 'female' and pummels his female opponent is celebrated. DM's bottom line is often that we are being asked to subscribe to notions which are patently absurd and offensive to common sense. These notions are not the foundations for a utopian society; they are the foundations for a chaotic hell.
This has all happened 'yesterday' and eons of tradition and experience are suddenly overthrown in an instant, a process exacerbated by contemporary technology which contributes materially to 'the madness of crowds' and creates an ethos of hatred and violence while attempting to create an ethos of brotherhood and sisterhood.
The examples adduced are cogent and telling. The author is both a scholar and a journalist, so the book is trenchant but also immediately accessible to all interested readers. The advice that it offers--a spirit of forgiveness, a spirit of generosity and common sense, a respect for the individual and a suspicion of mobs everywhere--is powerful and persuasive. The sad reality, however, is that it is likely to be principally persuasive for those who are already predisposed to hear his message. "Mad" crowds are seldom fitting vessels to receive the gifts of sweet reason, particularly when their default position is obsession and, ultimately, self-interest.
Bottom line: a stunning book which should be the 'common reading' text at all colleges and universities (but never will be).
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Excellent Book
Douglas Murray writes very clearly and intelligently about issues we're afraid to talk about. I've watched a few of his interviews, and multiple people have recommended this book. If you like reading about the issues we're facing today, Murray very much takes on these issues with a very thoughtful and intelligent way.
