The Social Acceptability List 2016

Another year whipped by, and it turned out to be a year like no other. Rulebooks are being burned and ripped up and rewritten, and what’s deemed acceptable has become a game of trial and error. The Overton Window has been stretched, but perhaps only for those with the most vocal following. So what’s in and what’s out? The Fallen in Public look at our politicians, newspapers and netizens - What’s in? What’s out? What’s OK? What’s not? Read on to find out...

IT'S IN: Walls!

"I WILL BUILD A GREAT WALL" – Donald Trump.

Walls are back! Some thought that walls had had their day, but they were wrong.

The Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall and the Wailing Wall are great historical walls of fear, division and protection, and so are our contemporary walls. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 signifying the end of capitalist/communist, east/west, democratic/authoritarian divisions, the presumed new order was to be one of unfettered (as much as humanly possible) trade and travel, typified in institutions like the EU. Liberal democracy was the answer, it was said – problem solved. But with capital flight, gentrification, outsourcing and (deep breath) immigration, along with other traits of neoliberal capitalism – wage stagnation, job insecurity, etc. – western populations have rediscovered their love of being boxed in.

It’s no great surprise that immigration tends to be the big villain. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign wallowed in the dirty language of xenophobia, promising to build a wall to keep out Mexicans. Britain doesn’t need a wall to keep out Europeans, because we already have a moat, but the sentiments were the same: fear of outsiders coming to wreak havoc and steal jobs. The simplest answers are given for the most complex of problems, and what could be simpler than a wall? If Ukip ran on a ticket of widening the moat, they’d surely sail to victory.

The EU has an external border, but since 2015 temporary internal borders have been reintroduced all around France and in certain areas around Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Going rogue, Hungary has been whipping up walls, one alongside its non-EU neighbour Serbia; one alongside its ‘open border’ neighbour Romania. The EU external border is gradually becoming more rigorously fortified.

Not one to be left out, Britain has joined in the effort to combat the Migrant Crisis because she is beginning to feel the effects, and so in an effort to stop refugees and better life-seekers from getting into trucks and getting into the UK, Britain has built a wall in Calais, one kilometre long. It’s a classic example of treating the symptoms rather than the causes. Perhaps they are practicing for the post-Brexit world, which could include a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and maybe, if all hell really breaks loose and Scotland goes independent, one there too! I’m guessing no one will want to talk about causes there too.

Walls are nothing if not symbolic, and sometimes you can have the symbolic aspect without the physical thing. So non-tangible walls are on the up too: London is seen as an out-of-touch enclave of Liberal Metropolitan Elitists; Washington is a swamp which Trump has promised to drain; European provincials are unsure whether they should hate Berlin or Brussels more; Russians and Ukrainians despise one another; the English think the Scots are taking their money, the Scots think the English are taking their freedom; the British young blame the British old for taking them out of the EU; liberals blame bigots for taking them out of the EU; bigots blame politicians, globalists and soppy wet liberals for creating an EU that had to be left, and my gran blames everyone for everything. Extremely high, albeit imaginary, walls separate all sides.

And the digital world makes it super easy to discover just how hated you are. Social media is rife with communities which communicate in echo chambers, learning how to use keywords to separate their friends and their foes – libtards, Brexiteers, Remoaners, Leavers, Remainers, MSM, Daily Hate, Guardianistas, ‘out of touch’, progressives, ‘regressives’, control, ‘religion of peace’, ‘waycist’. The internet, striving to replicate and re-present the anxieties of the real world and doing a damn fine job.

EU da man!

The EU elections are tomorrow, but I'm not voting. Am I Russell Brand? No. The main reason is that I haven't bothered registering since coming back to the UK.

But the better sounding reason is this. The whole debate is bastardised into some in/out referendum. Clegg and Farage, neatly representing caricatures of in and out, offered us the only (potentially) meaningful debate, and was consumed by a meaningless trade-off of bad puns, rhetoric and dubious statistics. And it was about in or out. Since then, the media has been on a Nigel high, using any excuse to get him and his pint into the news. "Nigel's booming support!" "Nigels a raving racist!" etc. The media level their judgements, and good old Nige blames immigrants and, ultimately, the EU. Again, are we in or out? Then, in reports which sound like obituaries, Clegg dribbles out something about being the "party of in", saying "of course" all the time. "Of course there are problems, of course we need improvements, of course no one believes a word I say..." Vote Lib Dem if you want to be in Europe... um, we already are! 

Then the other two parp up to say nothing much. Blue offer a referendum, red offer it if an exchange of powers happens. Once more – twice more! – it's about in or out. The Greens, pushed down into 5th place by the masturbatory anti-eu obsessives, are forced to use what slither of airtime they get by stating their own case for "in", and also supporting a referendum. They tend to list some achievements that the EU has made (and admirably often look beyond narrow "British" interests to a wider picture). Fair enough, but it's still about in or out. No MEP is going to Europe with a mandate to get a referendum, the whole farce is a symbolic argument about competing ideas of patriotism and interest. As long as the argument remains purely symbolic, not about EU policies, people will feel alienated by Europe and they'll mostly want to leave. I don't blame them. Even I want to leave!

But I can't shout loud enough to remind them that this EU election isn't a referendum. It's actually about sending people there to vote on things. What things? I don't know, they never say! 

The process of the European parliament is a little hazy to me. Do they just vote? Can they debate? Or propose bills? I'm not sure. But here are a few suggestions of what to campaign on – realistic or not, procedural or not – starting with the most prescient. (These are suggestions which cover the spectrum, not necessarily things I want to happen).

- disbanding the EU

- making the placement of the numerous presidents' into a position secured by democratic elections

- an end to the agriculture policy

- borders up everywhere, no more free movement

- reform of the EUs parliamentary procedure

- agrarian socialism across the board

- tougher stance on Russia

- changes to the European aid budget 

- environmental targets

- changes to human rights legislation

- European space programme

- the end of private finance initiatives

- no more austerity

- take Israel to court over crimes against Palestinians.

Like I say, I don't associate myself with these ideas, they're just principles that go beyond "in and out", which MEPs could endorse or argue against. I admit though that it's the agricultural policy which grinds my gears the most – hypocritical, neoliberal and unfair, and from that policy I make my judgement about the general principles of the EU. But that's not the point. The point is that when people want to get elected, they should offer something more than either supporting or condemning the institution that they're getting elected to. I guess Ukip's OK for not talking about anything else, because their tiny brains can't think beyond the in/out question. The rest should talk about what they'd stand for in Europe, even if it includes a referendum. 

Anyway, like I said, the reason I'm not voting is because I can't be arsed. So there.