How to live in the 21st Century

Britain's future and the case for real change

Where is Britain going? What do we want for our country, each other and ourselves? Why are we wealthier but no happier? Why do we have so much more choice in our lives, but still seem unable to choose the things that really matter? How can we tackle the big collective problems, such as crime and environmental threats, while retaining our personal freedoms? How can we rebuild a sense of community in an increasingly atomised world?

The honest answer to these questions is that we don’t yet know. We fail to even ask the questions, because we can’t comprehend an existence beyond the disjointed, anxious and only occasionally uplifting one we have. It’s not that life is without joy – the issue is where the strenuous effort required to live in the 21st century is taking us.

As a society we are wealthier than ever before. We benefit from more material goods, the huge opportunities created by new technology and our horizons have been widened enormously through international travel. But we are not a happy society. Individuals and families feel pressurised and anxious. We face worrying new threats and challenges, such as climate change. In the midst of all this, politics seems to offer us fewer clear-cut choices. Our horizons often feel like they have shrunk to the next payday or shopping trip. We have more choice as consumers, but often feel powerless to control the big things in our lives.

It’s even becoming difficult to know who ‘we’ are. Society is being so stretched by uncontrolled free markets that any notion of solidarity or togetherness is reaching a tipping point. The middle classes are beginning to feel some of the anxiety of those on lower incomes. The working class has been ignored, patronised or even vilified. Our lives have always been complex and differentiated, but threads traditionally bound us together: from accessible health, decent education and good public transport to a tangle of cultural connections such as sport, music and television. These are fast disappearing.

Leaving the free market unchecked has left us with all kinds of problems – chiefly, a far too unequal society where the super-rich and victims of poverty are both cut adrift from the majority.

There are all kinds of reasons to celebrate 21st century Britain, but too many of its positive aspects are overshadowed by a sense that we are going in the wrong direction. In 2008 all this has been amplified by the first big breakdown of economic confidence in over a decade. Now that we face the prospect of recession, beliefs that supposedly ensured stability, prosperity and happiness are turning toxic. Leaving the free market largely unchecked – an idea at the heart of the governments led by Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has left us with all kinds of problems, chief among them a far too unequal society where the super-rich and victims of poverty are both cut adrift from the majority. It is no wonder that the government is in such trouble. If all politics can promise is prosperity, then what happens when rising living standards are snatched away? Politics, like our lives, needs a higher purpose.

This is a country with both a long history of entrepreneurial flair, and a tradition of neighbourliness and mutual care. At times of crisis, we come together, but we have a profound respect for the rights of the individual and a hatred of arbitrary power, whether it is wielded by the market or the state. We have huge potential to set an example that other countries could follow. Yet it is far from being realised. The paralysis is caused by our own doubts about what we want, and the fact that we have stopped imagining that anything better is both desirable and feasible. Perhaps this is not surprising, given that politicians have lost the confidence to present these alternatives to us.

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