The general election is ten days away and our thoughts are focused on matters political but a recent piece on the BBC website caught the eye, and one sentence in particular:
'The authorities here are constructing a new ideology - a mixture of nationalism and patriotism, conservatism and loyalty to the state.'
Which authorities? Which country? It could so easily be any one as it deftly and succinctly sums up the way in which people are raising barriers all round the world.
Nationalism, patriotism, conservatism and loyalty to the state would be old hat in China. It certainly describes Trump's America and is coming to define the UK, egged on by the voices of the Right. Add in religion to either of these and you could also be talking about Erdogan's Turkey.
It is in fact a reference to Russia. The article referred to the arrival of a religious relic which was stimulating much devotion, even by Putin himself, once a KGB operative charged with rooting out the cancer of religion. How politicians sway, and rarely in the right direction.
'The authorities here are constructing a new ideology - a mixture of nationalism and patriotism, conservatism and loyalty to the state.'
It sounds like a return to Tsarist days.
The world's problems - whether climate change, the impact of globalisation and robotics, peak oil, shortage of raw materials, population growth, extremism, terrorism or famine - are global problems and require global solutions with people working together.
How can we be so blind as to build walls around ourselves and think we can keep the plagues at bay?
