Financial TimesFinancial Times

The cultural left has peaked

By Janan Ganesh

28 Feb 2023 · 3 min read

Editor's Note

Have we reached peak “woke?” Something has changed, argues The FT’s Janan Ganesh. At a time of double-digit inflation and other economic trouble, it is hard to focus on “microaggressions,” he argues.

Exactly when the tide turned, I don’t know. Perhaps a year ago, when Joe Biden in his State of the Union address said he would “fund the police”. Or last week, when Penguin bowed to pressure to keep Roald Dahl’s sometimes cruel work in print. Or the fall of Nicola Sturgeon over, among other things, a gender bill. Or the resilient sales of JK Rowling.

These are disconnected events, yes, except in one respect: you wouldn’t have counted on them happening in 2020.

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