It has been the stuff of dystopian science fiction for centuries. We have read the novels and watched the dramas. The typical thread is that the normal order of society breaks down due to alien invasion of beings, mutant plants, disease or nuclear war. Or that society descends entropically into chaos because that is the natural order of things.
I am a fan of dystopian writing. But I am not a fan of dystopia when it spills onto the streets and threatens democracy.
Yesterday’s abuse of Kier Starmer was not the usual rough and tumble of politics as some have claimed. It was clearly an organised attempt to intimidate the leader of the opposition.
We witnessed deaths on Capitol Hill last year. Ottawa, that most gentle of capitals, is in a state of emergency. Are we now living in a political dystopia we once only thought was science fiction?