Liberty With Truth

Since advanced and civilised countries are run on the basis, or at least the excuse, of pseudo-economics, it is doubtless an encouraging sign that Madagascar's new government is to be run on the basis of pseudo-science. Ministerial appointments will be conditional upon a polygraph test, in which candidates will have to show themselves liars no more than forty per cent of the time. Assuming that polygraphs could actually detect lies, this would constitute a substantially more rigorous vetting process than was ever imposed upon the National Johnson or the CEO of Team Starmer, let alone upon the strutting Caudillo of the Farage Falange, whether by their respective parties and corporations or by the great British public. Fortunately polygraphs cannot in fact detect lies, so the Malagasy measure is purely for show and therefore legitimately democratic. Whether it will prove as grown-up as claiming that a major capitalist economy resembles a maxed-out credit card, or implying that such an economy incorporates a fixed quantity of jobs which migrants can come along and steal, remains as yet unclear; but it is indubitably a valiant effort.