It is the summer of 2022. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned and two members of the British Conservative Party, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, are competing to replace him. Several short debates have been taking place, during which the two candidates presented their solutions to problems such as the ‘cost of living crisis’, the war in Ukraine and, on some rare occasions, climate change. Both have been working hard to differentiate their vision from one another. What seems to separate them is the fact that while Truss thinks lowering taxes ought to be a priority, Sunak wants to tackle inflation before tackling taxes. Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, has been seen attempting to pitch the Labour Party's own ideas for addressing those problems. Central to his vision is what the Party sees as its, admittedly vague and familiar, ‘mission for economic growth’.

Ostensibly, then, all seem to favour different measures. One Conservative candidate wants to tackle inflation, the other one wants to lower taxes and the Labour Party leader wants to prioritize economic growth. But, in reality, there is very little that differentiates them. Truss and Sunak simply disagree about when to lower taxes, and I doubt they would disagree with Starmer on the idea that growth should be strong. Starmer himself has been warning against raising taxes at a time when many are struggling to pay their household bills. He has also been trying very hard to show that his party no longer subscribes to the more left-wing ideas of his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn. None of them seems to question the fundamentals of the existing politicaleconomic architecture. Yet, never had the need for a radical change of system been so pressing. Inequalities are sharpening and while many cannot afford to heat their homes, supercar sales are accelerating (Neate, 2022). Climate change has become a reality, causing unprecedented numbers of floods, fires, and record temperatures. Major transformations are required. Bold ideas are needed. For, those crises cannot be solved by tinkering around the edges. They require us to think the world anew.

Such a task has become particularly difficult in an era marked by what German philosopher Jürgen Habermas (1986) called the ‘exhaustion of utopian energies’. Capitalism, it seems, is the ‘end of history’ (Fukuyama, 1989).