Room at the Top-ism
By ANGUS WILSON
TN the years after the war Communist tactics 'succeeded in making 'peace' a dirty word; Tory propaganda during this election has done something of the sort with the word 'prosperity.' The Tory TV campaign • has reminded me of nothing so much as the commercial side of Christmas--and I can find few harsher com- parisons—the same smug reminder that `we're all right, haven't had it better'; the same rather per- functory calling to mind of poor auntie on her old-age pension; the same throwing around of conventional noble or spiritual expressions in an entirely materialistic context (indeed, the Tory Ministers seem to be as bewildered with the occasional aspiring notes in their programme as are advertisers or salesmen with the religious side of Christmas—it doesn't quite fit). And behind all these rather inefficiently beaming faces, sweating with self-congratulation, have loomed, as in some Victorian moral tale, the words of fire, 'Hola,' 'Devlin,' Cyprus,"Iraq,"Suez.'
The awful thing is that, unlike the heedless revellers in moral tales, Mr. Macmillan and his colleagues are perfectly well aware of the flaming words on the wall; all they hope is that the electorate-viewers are too silly or too selfish to take notice. Too selfish is perhaps the crux of the whole matter. The Tory campaign seems con- cerned to prove that the mass of voters are as narrowly self-seeking as, during certain regular bouts of moral indignation (not election times), Tory newspapers declare them to be. It is absurd, of course, to confuse Lord Hailsham's Tory philosophy or Mr. Butler's liberal conservatism With the mixture of snobbery (for the women readers) and '— you, Jack'-ism (for the men readers) that Makes up the appeal of some of the popular Tory newspapers, yet the atmosphere surrounding the official Tory propaganda in this election has done much to blur the distinctions. A thumping Tory majority would justify the most cynical Tory estimate of the average man's narrow self-interest. Only a fool would say that the average man is not often narrowly self- interested, but not, I believe, to the degree that a thumping Tory victory based on their present election appeals would imply. Labour, it is true, for fear of appearing starry-eyed, has not sufficiently pitched into this revoltingly material- istic side of the Tory campaign; but perhaps they are right, it should be left to speak for itself.
The difficulty is that to attack such complacent 'room at the top'-ism suggests that the critic is for some reason against a materially prosperous society. The Labour Party has only just thrown Off its nostalgic attachment to the depression years, and 1 have certainly no wish to see it return to such living in the past. in any case, to everyone a car seems to me excellent, especially if our road system can be improved; and as one who has for twenty years done his own cooking and housework, to everyone, indeed, all washing machines and refrigerators. Nor do I much favour censorious, culturally smug sneers about 'pop' singers or the 'telly'; people's leisure time is their own and the greatest good is that there is now much more leisure and enough money to make it meaningful. But one doesn't have to be what the popular press still calls a kill-joy to be conscious of the dark shadows that cast gloom over the Tory picture of a sunny Britain.
Of the great atomic shadow, it seems pointless to make mention or to blame any party for avoiding; though perhaps the general air of unreality that hangs about all this prosperity campaign ultimately comes from the great mush- room shadow. But there are other dark shadows against which the Tory jollity seems peculiarly grotesque and, above all, not realistic. For it is the false pretence that narrow selfishness is realistic, that because Britain must be pros- perous to survive any other consideration is starry-eyed, it is all this 'first things first and nothing else anywhere' that so depresses me. Realism that makes light of brutalities and rule by force among African people who will never forget these things; realism that can repeat patterns proved wrong over half a century of ridiculous rearguard colonial holding on. Realism that legislates for murder and sexual offences on grounds of expediency and is surprised that each succeeding case makes a nonsense of its patched- together compromise legislation. Finally, a realism that encourages in its popular press a rat-race morality in the guise of room at the top and is then surprised when those at the bottom interpret this in terms of physical violence.
This corrupting pseudo-realism, which has no true claim to being essential for either pros- perity or survival, which is in fact a parasitic growth on an efficient society, has permeated all.three parties, but it is especially and essen- tially of the essence of the present Tory set-up, and I hope indeed that a Labour victory will sweep it away.
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