The arena and the agora

Commentators have expressed dismay at recent forms of insurrection against global elites. The unexpected success of Donald Trump in the US and the equally unexpected vote for Brexit in the UK are understood in this context. They are interpreted as responses of the alienated, ignored and disenfranchised to remote, inaccessible authorities. In the USA, psephologists are tracking whether the Resistible Rise of Donald Trump will be assisted by the UK's unexpected vote for Brexit, which is seen as popular endorsement of anti-establishment reaction and rejection of elites.

Predictions are worthless. Rule books are rewritten and re-rewritten. The politics of rejection prevail. There is a rending of hair and a gnashing of teeth. But amid all this consternation, two things of enduring, almost axiomatic obviousness seem to have been overlooked:

• It is perfectly reasonable, indeed necessary, to challenge global elites.
• It is also entirely possible to challenge elites in a way that is positive and constructive rather than reactionary and damaging.  

And when the USA looks to Britain as an example, they must remember that the UK offers the world two examples, rather than just one, of how to rebel against distant, unaccountable, uncaring elites

• A reactionary model exemplified by Brexit and 
• A progressive model exemplified by the Yes Movement in Scotland. 

I would implore those in the USA and elsewhere who are feeling ignored and alienated not to find inspiration in the negativity of Trump and Farage, but to follow the positive example of the Yes Movement in Scotland instead.  

The reactionary model of insurrection submits people to manipulation by a political campaign, abetted by a compliant media, which spuriously aligns their legitimate frustrations with prejudice and bigotry to energise support for ill-defined, often undefined, aims. Achievement of these vague, arbitrary objectives then merely serves to entrench the existing establishment, enabled by a nebulous mandate to present themselves as champions of the people.

Power does not change hands. Someone like Trump is not an alternative, he is the absence of an alternative. There are no promises and no policies, only lies and insults. Politifact tracked Donald Trump's statements and found that nearly three quarters were rated "Mostly False", "False," or "Pants on Fire," making him the most dishonest politician they have ever tracked. In the UK, the advocates of Brexit fled as soon as they were required by victory to deliver on their false promises. Meanwhile the establishment's grip on power is more secure than ever before in the capable hands of Theresa May.

In fact elites prefer reactionary insurrection to no insurrection at all. Challenge can be presented as disruptive, a cause of instability that damages everyone. Where elites benefit from trickledown economics, inevitably we find its political counterpart, crackdown politics. Security and peace for everyone is only possible once it has been re-established on behalf of the elite. The police are militarised in the interests of an order that begins with the protection of private property and the control of public space. And if they stop you for a traffic violation and the colour of your skin suggests you belong to a community that has historically been a victim of exploitation and injustice, about which you might have an opinion, rather than being a member of a privileged elite, they get nervous.

The real threat to elites is the second category of insurrection: positive, inclusive, peaceful and progressive. They would prefer to coral a reactionary insurrection in the arena and offer it a cast of villains to howl at and heroes to cheer for than leave a progressive movement to its own devices in the agora, where unmonitored and unmoderated discussions of real meaningful change may occur in which all are welcome to participate.

So when a progressive movement emerges we see certain things happen. Unsubstantiated accusations of bullying and misconduct are repeated by the media to ensure discussion is concerned only with alleged misbehaviour rather than real issues. Glaring abuses on the part of the establishment, such as election fraud, can be ignored while a divided opposition is made to publically self-destruct for our entertainment. There is nothing the establishment will not sacrifice to preserve the privileges of the elite.

The Yes Movement has been there already and proven resilient. It looks like Corbyn will survive the coup underway against him. Let's keep fighting the good fight. Let's make sure that the people are offered more than just the counterfeit, corporate, reactionary revolution of Brexit and Trump, that will leave them more indebted and more ignored than ever before.