Ill Fares the Land

2484 Words10 Pages
“Something is profoundly wrong with the way we live today” is the powerful opening line of Tony Judt’s book “Ill Fares the Land”, foreshadowing the writer’s critical attitude. His elaborate description of the current political and social situation does not present Western society benevolently. Selfishness and materialism have become the prevailing socio-economic attitudes and our former sense of political and moral value has given way to preoccupation with the monetary value of objects and actions. While a small number of people in society has accumulated a ridiculous amount of wealth, poverty is increasing among the general public, leading to great inequality and loss of social mobility. Social and economic standards have dropped below the poverty line for a large percentage of the population, causing Judt to refer to the prevailing social problems as the re-opening of the social question. On top of all, we are facing a lack of political participation that inhibits change. While focusing on the Anglo-Saxon world in his analysis, as these countries are facing similar problems, and only occasionally referring to countries such as Germany, France, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands, Judt still makes clear that the entire Western world is affected by social and political decay. The book can be read in very different ways, for example as a call for increased left-wing politics, an elaborate critique of capitalism or a history of the socio-political development of the Western world. Yet, predominating all these elements is a central message. The value of the book does not lie in the facts Judt presents, but in its main purpose: “Ill Fares the Land” is an idealistic appeal to young people to become aware of the political and societal situation, to recognize the prevailing problems and to start thinking about and making suggestions for what can be changed. Hence, the focus
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