Liz Truss or why Karl Marx was right after all the Republicans stabbed Ukraine in the back

Karl Marx was wrong in many things. But with one of his most famous quotes, he hit the nail on the head. It reads: “History always repeats itself twice – the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”

What we see in the British Isles today is probably the best illustration of this quote: In the 1970s, a spiraling Labor party led the country into economic abyss and lifted Margaret Thatcher to power. The “Iron Lady” gave the British a hardline neoliberal reform course, which was actually a tragedy for large segments of the population.

Wannabe Thatcher Liz Truss wanted to make a remake of this film 40 years later – and failed not only ignominiously, but after just six weeks.

Truss’s farce can best be compared to a sketch by the well-known comedy group Monty Python in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. There, a clumsy knight stands in the way of King Arthur. Branch after branch is cut off. Without legs or arms, he fights on fearlessly, declaring that they are all just scratches, until King Arthur finally drives past the limbless torso.

That’s roughly how the hapless prime minister has behaved for the past few days. After being brutally punished by the markets for her irresponsible financial plan, having to fire her vaunted finance minister and drop her plan, her situation had become untenable. She was only joking and the English tabloids joked about guessing who would survive longer, her or a lettuce.

Liz Truss was the wrong woman at the wrong time. The wrong woman, because although she wanted to imitate Margaret Thatcher, she couldn’t even hold a candle to her role model. The wrong time, because given global warming, ageing, war and pandemics, we need a remake of the neoliberal revolution of the 1980s as much as we need a goiter.

These existential challenges can no longer be solved if the state and the market are seen as natural enemies. There must be a meaningful partnership between the two, and yes, in the face of dangerous dictators like Putin, Xi and others, democratic nations must also move closer together.

The British Conservatives are ruthless even against losers in their own ranks. You once sent Thatcher into the desert when it became a political risk. They pulled the tightrope with Truss before she could get to know all the rooms at 10 Downing Street.

It is hoped that the Tories will finally come to their senses and choose between former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak or Penny Mordaunt, the Parliament faction leader.