As these assassinations continued, some reassured themselves by claiming that they were the bloody work of madmen and eccentrics. “There are more kinds of fools than you can guard against,” said a character in Joseph Conrad’s historical novel “The Secret Agent.”
Today, it is equally hard not to categorize the politically fluid 71-year-old Sintula, who has been a poet, a miner, a mason and, ironically, a co-founder of the short-lived Movement Against Violence party, as an eccentric. But eccentrics are often the canaries in the coal mine.
Like recent times in Europe, this beautiful era also saw the rise of political militias, violent movements, and aggressive nationalist ideas. A time of excess and enormous income inequality, similar to today, it masked serious social and economic unrest that in turn stoked widespread resentment and led many to seek refuge in the great fundamentalist “isms” of the time: fascism, communism, anarchism, and nationalism.
For scholars like Indian essayist Pankaj Mishra, the parallels between the so-called Gilded Age and our own are clear: “Many of our experiences resonate with those of the 19th century.” But in his book “The Age of Rage,” Mishra warns that we are now witnessing even greater economically-driven shocks, and that “dangers are becoming more diffuse and less predictable.”
The upheaval beneath our feet today is a harbinger of political shocks to come, including perhaps the outcome of the upcoming European Parliament elections, which are expected to see a surge in support for right-wing populist parties.
As fears of alienation, mass immigration, social injustice and being left behind grow, and hopes of the benefits of material abundance are dashed, resentment boils over and populists eagerly stoke the fires with their incendiary winner-take-all rhetoric. Voters who thought they were invincible after the Western victory over Communism now see all around them irresponsible wars, institutional incompetence and the fact that their children will be worse off than they were. Voters also feel disenfranchised, as decisions seem increasingly to be made by global and supranational bodies that are not directly accountable to them.
