Review: Ill Fares the Land

By Alan Go

Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today.

This is the opening line of the late Tony Judt’s short polemic about the crisis the Left has found itself in. Anybody who reads this and immediately begins nodding with a sincere expression will find plenty to like, and will no doubt admire the verve with which the book is written. I am sure it is a sentiment shared by many, but difficult to express with clarity; a problem to which the book tries to provide the answer.

The first chapter happens to draw largely from the last book I had read, and reprints many of the graphs from The Spirit Level in its call to reignite the fight against inequality. The message is an important one, and is referred back to frequently in the following chapters.

Judt tries to provide a brief history of the Left since the second world war, from the great enthusiasm for state planning and welfare that immediately proceeded it to the rise of individualism in the 60s, Thatcherism and Reaganism, and the decline in our belief in social democracy since then. Much of this broad brushstrokes history is told in such sweeping statements that it is easy to become sceptical of the simplicity of the narrative. In any case, I will admit to being unqualified to pronounce upon the accuracy of his account.


The view of the economy that Judt embraces is that of John Maynard Keynes (and also Adam Smith, who isn't quite the champion of the invisible hand that people tend to believe him to be. As Amartya Sen has said, 'While some men are born small and some achieve smallness, it is clear that Adam Smith has had much smallness thrust upon him.'). Economics was not separated from morality, only a means to a desired end. Regulation and nationalisation were commonly accepted means of ensuring the best outcome for society. This contrasts with the view of the libertarian Austrian economists, most notably Hayek, who opposed state interference. From this perspective, efficiency suddenly became the goal worth striving for, even if it came at the expense of other social goods. As Keynes lamented, ‘We are capable of shutting off the sun and the stars because they do not pay a dividend.’ This is key a theme in the book, that we have allowed the wrong measures of success to gain dominance in our culture.

Judt spends significant amounts of time speaking out against the cult of privatisation. It is not just that selling off things like public transport and the postal system has been economically disastrous, but also that these policies provide evidence of weakening support for the collective provision of public goods. In our single-minded quest for maximum efficiency, we have ended up putting third parties between citizens and their government.

A major question raised in the book is whether we still believe in welfare and social democracy. It may be the case that every politician will say that they place great value on the NHS, but there is no sure answer to the question of whether they truly believe in the principles that underlay its formation. Attitudes to people of lower class than ourselves have headed in a disappointing direction, and it has become a popular move for politicians to take a hard line on benefit cheats. Provision of services to help people seems to be undertaken with reluctance, as if it is a necessary evil, rather than the right and just thing to do. That this trend is strongly encouraged by growing inequality is, I hope, not too controversial a statement.

At least we aren’t America. Fortunately enough, we already have a decent framework for welfare provision, meaning that preserving that system and fighting its corrosion should be our goal, in what might be called a conservative liberalist position. Try to start a conversation about increased government expenditure in the US, and your challenge should be to see how far you can get before being called a socialist.

In the chapter titled The Unbearable Lightness of Politics, Judt levels criticism at today’s politicians that struck a deep chord with me. He bluntly states that they, ‘Have in common the enthusiasm that they fail to inspire in the electors of their respective countries,’ and that they, ‘Do not seem to believe very firmly in any coherent set of principles or policies.’ One thing that has sprung to mind for me recently is the lack of even the slightest consideration given by young people to entering the world of politics. As a politically minded young person with ideals, I am not simply indifferent to a career in government; the very thought repels me. This is surely a very strange reaction to a public service that it should be a privilege to carry out. For the morally inclined, the professions of medicine, nursing and teaching are appealing options, but it also seems like becoming an MP and gaining the chance to change society for the better should be on that list.

A cynical attitude towards government is near universal, and I suspect it has something to do with the lack of anything of substance in today’s House of Commons. To illustrate the point, I am unable to think of a single figure in either British or US politics who I would be willing to express admiration for. Anybody who may have encouraged a glimmer of hope has proven to be distinctly underwhelming, and there are no new faces on the radar that might alleviate the situation. Instead, the impression I get of any politician when I hear them speak is that they will say whatever is necessary to score points and achieve superficial victories. Stories of lies, corruption or stupidity have little effect now, since a lack of honesty is already presumed.

If I wanted to provide an explanation of these events in keeping with my cynicism, I might suggest that the rising inequality and the perverse values which that inspires has led to the best minds seeking their fortune in finance, leaving Parliament to take in the mediocre leftovers. More likely, today’s politicians have just been caught in the same trap as everyone else, and are simply another part of what Judt calls a ‘discursive’ failure in our society, where we no longer have the ability to talk about and defend the virtues of social democracy.

His message then, that, ‘Young people must not abandon faith in our political institutions,’ is a hard one to swallow. It is a disappointingly uninspiring plea, asking people to stick to the conventional channels which they have become disillusioned with. It could very well be that this is the most realistic advice, but I will confess to having much preferred a call for activism and protests.

The rhetoric in the book is often stirring, with Judt clearly knowing how to tap into his audience’s mindset. At times, it becomes necessary to remove yourself from your reverie to make sure there is more to his writing than purely emotive force. Whilst this test is mostly passed with ease, I did raise an eyebrow over his nostalgic longing for properly provided rail services, and even more so with his brief comments on the decline of football due to the huge influx of money.

A feeling of deep frustration emanates outward from the author’s writing, and the picture he paints can be a depressing one, that seems to imply that the massive culture shift that has taken place has made it extremely difficult to turn back the tide, and reframe the political conversation in a way that will allow society to return to a road towards a more promising future. The problems are laid out very convincingly, and it is easy to start feeling a sense of restlessness building up within you. At various points I felt like screaming that, ‘Yes, exactly right, now tell me what I can do about it!’ Here, enthusiastic readers may well end up disappointed with the limited, vague advice that is dispensed. For all the passion with which most of the book is written, the intensity drops dramatically when he writes that, ‘Incremental improvements upon unsatisfactory conditions are the best we can hope for, and probably all we should seek.’

Judt’s book is an important one. After all, we cannot start finding a solution until we have a clear articulation of the problem. Even if Ill Fares The Land only represents a first step, and leaves you with a deeply unsatisfactory lack of direction, there are still many insights to be gained by reading it, and it will be of great help to all people who share an unease with the current state of society.