In a social sense, in a civilizational sense, the role of the politician is changing for people who live in nations once called ‘free’. They used to be our ‘servants‘. They now seem to think they are our masters.

I have gone through a good portion of my life, and am entering my autumn years. For me this is a time of reflection about what I’ve done in life, with my life, and about the limited time available to me to do anything else. The naïveté, idealism and vigor of my twenties have been replaced with the experience, skepticism and wariness of my fifties. I understand how people can be swayed, and deceived, by public opinion. But I also understand how people hold some basic truths that can help them in building their own lives. So, although my time is now limited, for many others it is just beginning. Therefore, I want to spend this time creating and maintaining an environment where people can live the life they want, with as little interference from me as possible. [Fictional political candidate]

Who am I? Am I a politician? In the minds of some, these are the kinds of thoughts that we would want to hear from our politicians. They’ve lived a long life, and now want to improve, create or maintain an environment where we can do the same, using their experience, skepticism and wariness as guideposts.

Who are they really? They are our new politicians. Whether they are in their twenties, or fifties, many don’t have a life experience outside of politics. They certainly don’t espouse the skepticism or wariness required to cast a critical eye upon the political field. On the contrary, it seems that they have maintained their naïveté, idealism and vigor in order to expressly interfere with other people’s lives, and the lives of their children. and can now do so under the rubric of their own personal, political power.

The New Young Politician: I am in my late twenties or early thirties, and I have many fresh and new ideas on how to change your life (for the better). As I’m still young, my ideas, as flexible, idealistic and inconsistent as they might appear, are actually meant to change the environment in which ordinary people live out their lives. My inexperience is actually an asset and a positive, as I don’t want or need to abide by the ancient and evil conditions.

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The New Childless Politician: I am in my fifties or sixties. Like some others, I have no children, but I have lots of fresh and new ideas on controlling the lives of your children. I will use my inexperience having no children in order to create an environment for your children that I find personally fulfilling. The opinions of actual parents must always be secondary to state harmony.

• Angela Merkel
• Theresa May
• Nicole Sturgeon

The New Eco-Fascist Politician: I’ve lived your life. I’ve kept my house warm. I’ve driven my car to work, and I’ve seen parents take their children to numerous activites. I’ve cooked meals using my barbecue, and placed frozen left-overs in plastic bags. But this is bad. We must restrict and banish everything that allowed our society to flourish under these conditions. And we must replace this with new ideas that must require some fundamental changes in how we, and our children, live. And my fresh, new ideas must be legislated. Starting with plastic bags. And barbecues. And heavy, heavy taxes.

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Bernie Sanders

And there are many, many more. But the synthesizing aspect seems to be the new politician’s need to drastically change what life will be like for those of us who are still yet to fully live it, which includes that of our children. It’s no longer about simply creating and maintaining an environment that allows people to live their lives freely; it’s about seeing their fresh, new ideas being exacted and inflicted upon the population, regardless of what the actual effects of those fresh ideas may be.

‘Climate emergency’ declared by Welsh Government

I believe we have the determination and ingenuity in Wales to deliver a low carbon economy at the same time as making our society fairer and healthier. We hope that the declaration by Welsh Government today can help to trigger a wave of action at home and internationally. From our own communities, businesses and organisations to parliaments and governments around the world. [Lesley Griffiths, politician in Wales]

“Around the world.” Uh-huh. A nobody person, in a nothing country, talks as if she’s some kind of Mahatma Ghandi figure. Our new ‘politician’. Here to ‘save us’. How nice.