Eric Kaufmann’s new book pillories ‘progressive’ (woke) extremism – including Albanese Labor

Australia, writes Kaufmann, cleaves "closer to the Canadian than American model".

Correct. Trudeau's Canada and Albanese's Australia are twins, in their historic immigration surges and debilitating rental/housing crises.

Yet each leader's a self-declared climate-policy champ. Trudeau praised bro Albanese's "immense" climate courage. Whatever that means.

On Kaufmann's UK and US evidence, young people are trending "more illiberal" or less tolerant of free speech.

He cites a 2024 American study: "Each cohort born after the Baby Boom generation has become less tolerant".

Youth and education, formerly predictive of tolerance, seem less so now. In Australia, Exhibit A is Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather. For this celebrity, even net-migration as high as 300,000 would be a "race to the bottom".

Woke consequences and remedies

In Taboo, woke goes beyond impairing "freedom and reason". Kaufmann discerns "malign impacts" and "material consequences" for disadvantaged groups.

Cultural socialism can create "self-fulfilling prophecies" that may perpetuate, rather than remediate, disadvantage.

For example, "taboos around race and gender" discount the impact of single-parent families, on black Americans. Racial over-sensitivities obstruct "justice for vulnerable women" in indigenous Australian communities. White progressives "blame African corruption and economic development" on colonialism, not African leaders.

Though wokeness metastasises within "institutions", remedies can only come from elected government. Hence Kaufmann's "12-Point Plan for Change".

Notably, his top-six spotlights public agencies and public service: