by Suzanne Moore, Telegraph
After years of loudly criticising others’ beliefs, the singer’s support for Israel has turned his self-righteous comrades against him
How little it takes these days to be an iconoclast. I am not wild about Boy George, nor I am a fan of the song he has recorded, We Will Dance Again, in defence of military action in Israel. But I am inclined to admire anyone who refuses the soul-crushing conformity of our current cultural establishment.
Everyone these days seems to get their worldview pre-packaged. And yes, it starts in our educational establishments. It is convenient, I suppose, not to have to think for oneself. Just answer a few random Instagram quiz questions and a suitable selection of acceptable stances will be suggested for you. For a small fee this will be uploaded into your brain. This will be particularly useful if you go on to work in the cultural sector.
On every issue the bundle will give you a pre-loved opinion that means you will fit in perfectly with your friends and your workplace. The added bonus here is that your self-image may be that of a dissident, even though you agree with all your peers about Gaza, trans rights, net zero, white supremacy and defunding the police. Amazing!
This “right side of history” package really is a bargain. A political perspective and a lifestyle that involves no self-reflection, no historical nor geographical knowledge, but purrs with self-righteousness.
I have not been to one art event, gig or exhibition in the past few years where some kind of “Free Gaza” message was not pumped out. I am bombarded with press releases about queer comedy, musicals, films. Some are great, some are not, yet they are all billed as some kind of “challenge”. To who exactly? Increasingly they act merely to affirm the audience’s pre-existing view. How cosy this all is. Top-down arts funding flows only to the correct causes. This is suffocating. If we are truly post-woke, someone needs to tell the commissars. This has been going on a long time.