When I saw the headline I thought: "hmmm… I wonder, would that be a Right-wing tyranny or a Left-wing tyranny?"
London to a brick, I thought, it's going to be about a Right-wing tyranny. And sure enough: of course it's about a Right-wing tyranny descending on Ireland!
But look at history of the last century. On the Right we have the German Nazis; the Italian, Spanish and Greek fascists; Argentina; Chile. But much more on the Left, we have the Stalinist Soviet Union, the Maoist China, the Kim Il-sungian North Korea. Right-wing tyrannies still pop up here and there, but the largest and most enduring tyrannies, the ones that have done the most damage to mankind, are the far-Left ones. You want to see a real dystopia in action today? Go to North Korea, as I've done. It's right there right now and has endured for three-quarters of a century. It's horrid, it's a tyranny and it's a dystopia.
But Paul Lynch can't "imagine" a far-Left dystopia, because that would never bag a Booker!
He claims he was taking a risk writing the book. Shucks, Paul! You're never at risk with the mainstream if you hammer the Right! Sounds like the claim you were "speaking truth to power" when you criticised Trump in office. You did it to the cheers of the media. Like Robert De Nero saying "fuck Trump" at the Oscars to wild cheers, then being called "brave"! What self-regarding nonsense.
Give me a break Paul. You knew that writing about a Right-wing dystopia was catnip for the pussies.
The irony is that the current Left-wing Irish government is debating a "Hate crime bill" that would silence dissent and crush freedom of speech. A genuine step to tyranny. Whither the Left-wing dystopia in Ireland? Don't go to Lynch for any thoughts, for like the good people at Booker and The Guardian, they all firmly believe the only baddies are on the Right!
