This important study by the New York Times chief executive and former BBC boss identifies many culprits for the destructiveness of political debate

Plato, Socrates and Thucydides fretted about it. Hobbes was anguished in 17th-century England. In 1946, Orwell published his influential essay, Politics and the English Language, in which he shivered over the frightening ease with which dark forces can exploit perverted rhetoric for malign ends.

In this important book, Mark Thompson is quick to concede that ours is far from the first age of alarm about the way we conduct political debate and he is not the first to raise the spectre that it could lead to even scarier destinations than Donald Trump. It is his elegantly argued contention that our crisis has characteristics that are peculiar to our time and there are specific accelerants that make our circumstances exceptional. One is the technology that has given political actors the capability to reach more people more of the time in more places than at any previous stage of human history. Words hurtle through virtual space with infinitesimal delay, he writes. A politician can plant an idea in 10 million other minds before she leaves the podium.

Yet while the noise has magnified, the content has become increasingly infantilised. Argument has turned cruder, ruder, more polarised and less anchored in facts. Much of media treatment of political debate has gone the same way, further cramping the spaces in which reasonable people can engage in rational discourse.

Thompson, a former director general of the BBC turned chief executive of the New York Times, usually advances his case in cool, nuanced and forensic prose, but he is a blistering flame-thrower about the consequences of the digital revolution. In the beginning, internet idealists imagined that it would encourage wider and richer debate. They didnt anticipate the creation of echo chambers in which the committed can seal themselves off from any contrary opinion or inconvenient truth by talking only to those who agree with them. Nor did the prophets of digital see coming the tidal waves of rage and hate that crash down on anyone daring to venture a contrary view. Digital has certainly intensified the political news cycle, but it is hard to make a convincing claim that it has done much for the quality.

Most of the young people who work for the new publishers find themselves not knee-deep in a war zone or with the time and resources to pursue a heroic long-term investigation, but locked in a digital sweatshop, ripping off other peoples work, making lists and chasing clicks, racing to keep one step ahead of the scything blades of Facebooks unforgiving algorithm, Thompson writes. He also gives a kicking to newspapers and conventional broadcasters who, scared of looking backward and hungry for free content, give further amplification to the howlround.

The result is political discourse in which there is no longer any presumption of good faith between opponents, just a fight to the political death, a fight in which every linguistic weapon is fair game. Rhetorical self-restraint is abandoned and vituperative exaggeration, often vaulting into outright mendacity, is rampant.

Conventional politicians of the mainstream are both culprits and victims of this trend. The easy bromides, sleights of tongue, spin and other techniques they borrowed from the world of commercial marketing got them by in peace and prosperity, but are now found wanting during a period of conflict and austerity. Alienation has been magnified by military misadventures, the financial crash and the uneven impacts of globalisation. You may have recently heard Tony Blair mournfully wondering whether the type of broadly centrist politics practised by him and Bill Clinton is now defunct. Barack Obama was possibly the last of their kind that we will see for a while and his career trajectory epitomises the problem. The messiah of boundless hope on the campaign trail became the weary professor of complexity in the White House. There has always been a tension between the different demands of acquiring power and wielding it. Modern electioneering has become about messages that are cut-through crude; government involves making tricky, often finely balanced and frequently painful trade-offs. That tension has become more acute as the challenges facing leaders have become more technically intricate at the same time as contemporary campaigning has intensified the pressure to oversimplify. The result is a recurring loop of brave promises followed by glum disappointment. Coupled with an accelerated news cycle, we now travel from the peak of expectation to the trough of disillusion faster than ever.

That has set the stage for the rise of demagogic charlatans like Trump. He is one of the poorest orators to have become a US presidential candidate in a long time. He is a terrible speaker, incapable of rising any higher than the repetition of inflammatory crudities. Ronald Reagan could make a phrase sing, whether it was his own or one composed for him. Trump could not deliver a poetic line even if he employed anyone with the wit to draft one for him. His campaign slogan Make America Great Again! could hardly be less original. Nor more duplicitous. For all its flaws, the US remains the worlds greatest economic and military power. Thompson makes the cute point that the I-tell-it-like-it-is anti-rhetoric performed by Trump is an especially deceptive form of rhetoric. The ancient Greeks had a name for this trick. They called it parataxis. This is the way generals and dictators have always spoken to distinguish themselves from the cavilling civilians they mean to sweep aside. Theres nothing as fake as the politician promising authenticism.

Trump is just one symptom of a deeper disease, according to Thompson. The nihilistic rejection of the concept of expertise on the grounds that everything is now just a matter of opinion is having some disastrous consequences for policy-making, especially around healthcare and science. He gives a slap on the wrist to those of his former colleagues at the BBC who interpret balance as giving equal airtime to a professor of cosmology and a flat-earther. In a post-fact world, public understanding of issues is being degraded and voters rendered less well equipped to make reasoned choices about policy options. The Chinese politburo, campus censors who close down debate in the name of political correctness, and Twitter flash mobs have more in common than they know. All are sure they are right None of them trust the rest of us. And they all seek to gag anyone who doesnt share their worldview. His concluding chapters take on an apocalyptic tone, shuddering that the enemies of free speech are gathering intolerance and illiberalism are on the rise almost everywhere.

Then he rescues himself from despair by reminding himself that public language has come back to life before, even as the last rites were being read over it. Theres hope for reasoned persuasion yet. In the uncertain interim, what can you do? Open your ears. Think. Speak. Laugh. Cut through the noise. It is not bad advice.

Enough Said is published by Bodley Head (25). Click here to buy it for 20

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/04/enough-said-whats-gone-wrong-with-language-politics-mark-thompson-review

Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson. (Go Fund Me)

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/04/search-for-2-utah-climbers-missing-on-pakistan-mountain-called-off.html

Burkinis, misery memoirs and people on camels: the caricatures of Islam dont leave much room for modernity. The author of a new book argues that this image is absurd and that a new demographic is about to flex its economic muscles

They say you shouldnt judge a book by its cover, but in this case theyre wrong. In the foreground is a young woman with fuchsia lipstick, Jackie O-style sunglasses and a colourful headscarf. Behind her is a young man, with a hip, trimmed beard, headphones jammed in his ears and one hand casually resting in his pocket.

They are part of Generation M, and the eponymous book, subtitled Young Muslims Changing the World, is the first detailed portrait of this influential constituency of the worlds fastest growing religion. According to author Shelina Janmohamed, they are proud of their faith, enthusiastic consumers, dynamic, engaged, creative and demanding. And the change they will bring about wont depend on the benevolence of others: instead, the Muslim pound, like the pink pound before it, will force soft cultural change by means of hard economics.

To demonstrate all that, the cover image was crucial. When youre talking about Muslims in particular, but actually people of religion in general, the images you get are really quite depressing, she says over coffee and baklava in her garden in the outer suburbs of London. But I think this really captures it. Its bold, its vibrant, the womans got so much attitude. They are exactly the kind of people Im writing about.

Janmohamed recalls going into a bookshop some years ago. They had this display of books about Muslims, and it was all misery memoirs of women in veils with cast-down eyes whod been kidnapped and sold, and people riding on camels in faraway deserts, she says.

But young Muslims are crying out for a voice to say this is not what were like, we do ordinary things like everyone else, and we have interesting things to say particularly when the conversation is about Muslims. There are precious few mainstream publications about the experience of being a young Muslim, beyond politics and theology, she says.

Generation M are the Muslim millennials, the global generation born in the past 30 years, but with a twist. Unlike their Christian counterparts in the US and western Europe, most of whom are turning their backs on organised religion, Generation M has one over-riding characteristic, which is that they believe that being faithful and living a modern life go hand in hand, and there is absolutely no contradiction between the two, says Janmohamed.

In the book, she writes: Their faith affects everything, and they want the world to know it. This is what sets them apart from their non-Muslim peers. Its the single factor that will shape them and a world that they are determined should cater to their needs They are a tech-savvy, self-empowered, youthful group who believe that their identity encompasses both faith and modernity.

The demographics depict an extraordinary trajectory. In 2010, there were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, a figure forecast to grow by 73% in the next four decades more than double the general rate of growth. By 2050, according to the Pew Research Center, there will be 2.8 billion Muslims globally, more than a quarter of the worlds population.

Of the 11 countries expected to join the worlds largest economies this century, six have overwhelmingly Muslim populations and two have big Muslim minorities. By 2050, India will have the largest Muslim population in the world, at an estimated 311 million, although they will still be a minority among the countrys vast numbers. Muslim minorities in Britain, Europe and North America are young, affluent and growing. One-third of all Muslims are under the age of 15, and two-thirds under 30.

The Muslim middle class is expected to triple to 900 million by 2030, driving consumption as well as social and political change. Their spending power is enormous: the most recent State of the Global Islamic Economy Report forecasts the halal food and lifestyle industry to be worth $2.6tn by the end of this decade, and Islamic finance is on a similar trajectory. Muslim travel could be worth $233bn. In 2014, Muslim fashion was estimated to be worth $230bn, and $54bn was spent on Muslim cosmetics.

Through their sheer numbers, their growing middle-class stature, the shift of economic and political power towards the Middle East and Asia, home to most of the worlds Muslims, through the Muslim minorities that act as influential and well-connected leaders, by the inspirational force of their faith and their refusal to accept the status quo, Generation M are determined to make change. And what a change its going to be, writes Janmohamed.

She charts the beginnings of this change. The demand for halal (permitted) products has been the impetus for growth in a range of businesses, such as food, fashion, cosmetics and travel. Among dozens of entrepreneurs cited in the book are the Radwan family, who started an organic halal farm in Oxfordshire; the producers of non-alcoholic beer a sector that grew 80% in the five years to 2012, according to the Economist; Shazia Saleem, who launched ieat, a range of halal ready-meals including shepherds pie and lasagne, which are now sold at Asda, Sainsburys and Tesco; and a whole new Muslim fashion industry, incorporating online retailers, video bloggers, catwalk shows and haute couture.

But Generation M, according to the book, wants to go beyond halal to tayyab, which roughly translates as ethical and wholesome. They want the entire supply chain of production and consumption to have integrity. Resources must be properly respected, workers in primary industries must not be exploited. Sustainability and renewability are part of the Islamic idea of stewardship of the Earth, which Generation M eco-Muslims are championing.

According to Janmohamed, this Muslim millennial generation has been shaped by two monumental factors. One is the events of the past 15 years, since 9/11, and the global response to Islamic extremism and terrorism; the other is the internet, described in the book as the glue that binds [Generation M] together and creates the critical mass that turns them into a globally influential force.

The internet has also, she tells me, given space for [traditionally] marginalised voices within the community younger Muslims and women to express their views.

Among those views are frustration and resentment at being defined by their hijabs or being told they are oppressed by their faith. Janmohamed quotes Azra, 20: Im a young Muslim woman. I am not oppressed by my hijab, Im liberated by it. If you dont understand that, thats completely fine, you dont need to The emotion youre seeing in my eyes is not a plea to help me but one for you to take your self-righteous bullshit and shove it up your arse.

Rather than being downtrodden and subjugated, Muslim women are experiencing increasing empowerment in education, employment, public life, marriage and childbearing, says Janmohamed. If we were to pick a face that captures the global pace of change, it would most likely be a Muslim woman she is part of the largest population, in nations where change is happening fastest, and in the segment where change is most potent. In short, Muslim women are where its happening.

Although beyond the cusp of Generation M at 42, Janmohamed in many ways embodies the young Muslim woman she describes.

She was born in London to immigrant parents who arrived in the UK with a suitcase and 75 in cash, and she went to a school at which there were few non-white faces. Religion was important in our family I remember my parents praying and fasting, going to the mosque was extremely regular; the Muslim community they were part of was the foundation of the familys social life. But at school, I spent my time hiding my hennaed hands, not telling people I was eating curry at home, being very shy about being Muslim.

Only when she went to Oxford did she start to wear a headscarf. I found university a liberating experience. I got to explore who I was, and part of that was my Muslim identity, which had been very suppressed at school.

After university, she joined a graduate trainee scheme in marketing, and later spent a year working in Bahrain, which opened my eyes to the global experience of being Muslim. She returned to the UK shortly before 9/11, and following the London bombings in July 2005, began writing a blog talking about what its like to be British and Muslim and a woman. It felt like that conversation, about someone who straddles different heritages and feels comfortable in all of them, just wasnt being heard.

The blog led to a book, Love in a Headscarf, published in 2009, about her 10-year quest for love via the route of a traditional arranged marriage. Janmohamed was headhunted to help launch Ogilvy Noor, a division of advertising and marketing agency Ogilvy & Mather, which advises brands on engaging with Muslim consumers.

Ogilvy hired her when she was eight months pregnant with her first child, and Generation M was largely written during her second pregnancy and since the birth of her younger daughter 18 months ago. In the books dedication, Janmohamed writes: To my girls. Because you can do anything. Take it from Mummy.

Generation M, she says, has high aspirations. They want to be astronauts, youve got fencers at the Olympics and ice skaters going to the Winter Olympics, female air crew for Brunei airways these are young people who are really battling the fact that they have aspirations that should be unfettered versus a reality that is trying to confine them to a particular box.

But, she acknowledges, not all young Muslims are Generation M. Inclusion does not depend on disposable income or level of education, but sharing the characteristics of faith and modernity. Their counterparts might be called the Traditionalists more socially conservative, believing in maintaining harmony, more deference to authority and, as their name suggests, trying to hold firmly on to what they see as the good elements of family, community and tradition, she writes.

And a few young Muslims, of course, become radicalised, hijacking Islam for violent extremism and hatred, the polar opposite of Generation M.

I ask her who the book is aimed at. One of her goals was to offer a platform for Generation M, she replies, for people to have their voices heard. So theres a recognition of their own identity, a consolidation of who they are, how they talk to one another.

Then, she adds: Theres a conversation for the wider Muslim community to have, to understand some of the dynamics that are happening within it, some of the challenges young Muslims are facing and how they can be resolved.

But the book is also and perhaps mainly for a wider audience. People who work in business, politics, culture, development. The UK [Muslim] population is just shy of 3 million, the European population is 50 million and growing, theres a worldwide population of 1.6bn. I think anyone whos quite serious about understanding whats happening around the world has something to gain.

And the marketing executive in Janmohamed wants global brands and multinational corporations to wake up to the power of the Muslim pound, dollar, rupee, rupiah or euro. Brands have been a little bit over-cautious, she says, pointing out that business is not immune to prevailing tropes and stereotypes. It seems to be a really radical idea that Muslims actually buy stuff. Muslims are saying: Hello, weve got lots of money to spend, were young, were cool, please can you deal with us in the same way you deal with everyone else?

Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World by Shelina Janmohamed is published 6 September by IB Taurus.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/03/meet-generation-m-the-young-affluent-muslims-changing-the-world