“Mediocracy cannot permit genuine dissent. Apart from the fact that its ideology cannot be questioned, there is a risk that its high culture will be exposed as valueless.

“The solution is to create an ethic according to which any deviation from the consensus is treated as opposition to egalitarianism, to progress, and to fairness. The description ‘conservative’ does not necessarily mean much beyond a failure to subscribe to the prevailing cultural shibboleths. However, to be labelled as such becomes anathema in most cultural professions.

“Under mediocracy we may hear mutterings about a hiring bias in cultural institutions, but these are misconceived. Discrimination requires an alternative to be discriminated against. In a mediocracy there is no one with an alternative viewpoint.”

▪ Fabian Tassano, Mediocracy – Inversions and Deceptions in an Egalitarian Culture (Oxford Forum, 2006) extract from page 59.

SydneyTrads is the internet portal and communication page of the Sydney Traditionalist Forum, an association of individuals who form part of the Australian paleoconservative, “traditionalist conservative” and “independent right”.