This chap, who I fear would not get a respectful audience on GP, did however manage to snag a gig last Christmas, delivering the Reith lectures on the BBC. In a series of four lectures, he called for small groups of individuals to bring about a moral revolution to solve the multiple crises facing western liberal democracy. He didn’t stint on describing the problems. Comparing today’s world with the decline of the Roman Empire, (as described by Gibbon), Bregman said, “Gibbon wrote about politicians who lacked seriousness. Elites who lacked virtue, and societies that mistook decadence for progress. 2000 years later, we live in an age where billionaires dodge their taxes, politicians perform instead of govern, and media barons profit from lies and hatred. The Roman elite fiddled while Rome burned. Our elites live-streamed the fire and monetised the smoke. Immorality and unseriousness. Those are the two defining traits of our leaders today. And they’re not accidental flaws, but the logical outcome of what I call the survival of the shameless. Today, it’s not the most capable who rise, but the least scrupulous. Not the most virtuous, but the most brazen.”
So far, so good(ish) ………. However where Bregman and the GP audience would perhaps part company is his assertion that a better intentioned elite – with the best minds working for the good of humanity rather than developing ever more manipulative social media algorithms – would be the solution.
I think the problems we have are caused by the elite, who have self-selected and abrogated responsibility and accountability while retaining power and rewards. More of that is the last thing we need.
Bregman rightly called for government to have “more skin in the game”, but that is only possible if they are accountable for their failures. Following the emergence of the Post Office’s Horizon scandal, Paula Vennells, the CEO at the time, lost her CBE. She’s not been charged; there is no ongoing litigation. Nearly 1000 sub-postmasters were wrongly pursued & convicted, some were imprisoned, many ruined and some killed themselves. A thousand lives wrecked and the culpable CEO merely lost a trinket. That’s not justice – that is a real time example of a system that is utterly broken, completely incompetent and deeply unfair.
It needs rebuilding from the ground up. The elites have no skin in that, so they won’t do it; they’ll do their damnedest to prevent it. Bregman is concerned that in the power vacuum that is formed by the collapse of the elite, populism takes over. To avert this, he believes that small elite groups acting with a righteous purpose can change the world. He cites the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women. What he declines to consider is that at least some of the populist groups he dislikes and probably fears, (he is – after all – a product of the liberal intelligentsia), might be the very groups of small people with a noble purpose. Bregman was looking for them in Silicon Valley; maybe he should have walked on any of the streets of the UK talking to the residents, or even dropped in at the GP Bash………..
The reality is stark. Reform continues to poll well because people finally see an option not just to change the people in power for a few years, but to change the system that let the failing, self-appointing elites last so long and do so much damage. That the elites have failed the UK is unarguable. We face yuuuge economic challenges, power shortages and a looming recession. If you believe NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte – another Dutchman – we might also be facing up to Russia by 2030. Now, much as I despise the current government, who have done so much, so quickly, to make things worse, it’s taken decades to reach this nadir of hope. Governments of all flavours have contributed. The decline has been inexorable regardless of which party is in power. If all parties lead to failure, the problem isn’t party policy; it’s the system.
That, of course, was one of the most compelling arguments for voting to Leave the EU. By subordinating Parliament to Brussels, the agreeably well remunerated of Whitehall and Westminster could avoid responsibility for much of policy. The 2016 vote blew that fig leaf away – although the half-baked turkey of an exit agreement delivered by Boris Johnson failed to capitalise on the opportunities – not least because so few in the government machine wanted to leave. Ten years on, with things much worse in the UK for a variety of reasons, they point to leaving the EU as the trigger – neglecting to note that the EU is hardly a bed of roses either. Europe is collapsing too. In Bregman’s words:
“If America resembles the fall of Rome, spectacular and vulgar, then Europe is reliving the slow death of Venice. One empire collapses in flames, the other sinks in silence. One is consumed by fire, the other lost in fog. Perhaps you’re familiar with the story. At its peak, Venice was a marvel of commerce and innovation. A small city built on a lagoon had become a maritime empire, dominating Mediterranean trade for centuries. Its success was rooted in a relatively open system. Merchants could rise through merit, trade was well regulated, and institutions like the Great Council struck a balance between aristocracy and accountability. But by the 14th century, that openness began to vanish. The seeds of decline were sown in 1297 with the Serata, or closing, of the great council. Membership became hereditary, creating a class of entrenched nobles who guarded their privileges fiercely. This selfish elite monopolised government positions, blocked newcomers, and rewrote the rules to protect their wealth and power. Over the centuries, Venetian politics devolved into rent seeking. The ruling families extracted profits from trade monopolies without reinvesting in innovation. They poured their wealth into palaces and casinos and ignored the growing threats from emerging powers like the Ottoman Empire. Young elites didn’t want to become merchants and admirals anymore. Instead, they preferred a life of leisure and luxury. And over time, Venice became a shadow of its former self, beautiful on the outside, hollow on the inside. Does that remind you of anything? Today, the whole of Europe risks turning into one big Venice, a beautiful open air museum, a great destination for Chinese and American tourists, a place to admire what was once the center of the world. Just look at our most valuable companies. In the US and China, the commanding heights of the economy are in technology and industry, AI, electric cars, solar panels, batteries, whatever you think of big tech, and it’s all a carcass. These are power industries, shaping the future. In fact, all the American giants, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, NVIDIA, Alphabet, are individually worth more than the entire German or French stock market. By contrast, Europe’s top companies are dominated by big fashion. Dior, Louis Vuitton, L’Oreal, we’ve become the continent of handbags instead of hardware.”
To be continued..…………….
© DJM 2026
