Bertrand Russell - what would he say now?

A friend has posted a comment by Bertrand Russell, a hero of my early days, that he made when asked about how Fascism started:

“First, they fascinate the fools. Then, they muzzle the intelligent”.

My hero may well have been right about the Fascism of the 1930s. But what would he have said about the totalitarian instincts - not exactly Fascism - of our own era? The totalitarianism that causes JK Rowling to be attacked for saying that there are two sexes and that causes Professor Kathleen Stock to be kicked out of her position at the University of Sussex, for expressing similarly heretical views?

When I say “totalitarianism” I hope I’m using the right term. What I really mean is “Illiberalism”. What Voltaire and JS Mill fought against. The sentiment that Voltaire famously expressed by saying: ” I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

In his day, he was thinking of what were probably minority opinions, but were seditious and even revolutionary. Today, it’s amazingly different. The proscribed opinions are probably shared by the vast majority of the population.

What gives rise to that - the totalitarianism of the 21st century?

Let’s try to adapt Bertrand Russell’s crisp formulation:

First, they excite and persuade the educated elites (the equivalent today of Lenin’s “useful idiots”). Then, they muzzle everyone else.

Perhaps the masses will fight back. Perhaps one day JK Rowling will become Chancellor of Oxford University. Too late this time!

Tony Herbert

25 October 2024