Political Prospects

Abstract

Amidst the gloom and dire warnings of disaster that surround us, two particular scenarios for catastrophe stand out. One concerns the ecological crisis, the other the prospects for hyperinflation and slump. Robert Heilbroner has noted ‘the pervasive unease of our contemporary mood’; it is an unease that, at times, approaches panic and proclamation of the apocalypse. Reality as it unfolds will undoubtedly be more mundane.

He who supposes that an Englishman of the present day can find his way either to intellectual certainty or political consistency, without doubts, hesitation and errors, shows little appreciation of the gravity or the complexity of the situation.

John Strachey, The Coming Struggle for Power (London: Gollancz, 1932) p. 7.