Our world is in flux. This is a time of transition. A time to reflect on the systemic failure of the philosophies that have guided us for the past three decades. Certainly a time to think clearly about the sort of society we want to live in, and the values that should guide us in building it. An opportunity to question our neoliberal understanding of the state and the markets – to verify its power to bring us closer to our dreams, if nothing else. The worldwide economic crisis and the political upheaval that surrounds it are not an episodic disturbance. Impending environmental disaster is not ‘business as usual’. It’s not the end of history after all, Mr Fukuyama.

This most certainly isn’t the time to withdraw from the debate, to shut ourselves off from the buzz of conversations or to disengage from politics. Perversely, the failure of institutions – from banks that stay afloat through public bailouts to politicians that bulk up their expense claims – has precisely that effect, of demoralising and encouraging us to distance ourselves from the sorry mess. The Guardian quotes a report by Democratic Audit, which claims that “democracy in Britain is in long-term terminal decline as the power of corporations keeps growing, politicians become less representative of their constituencies and disillusioned citizens stop voting or even discussing current affairs”.

One thing I’ve learned during my time as a small cog within a big political wheel is that despite all claims to the contrary, there is nothing inevitable about the way in which politics works. Nothing about it is a given – apart from the legal framework and the traditions that frame it. All the assumptions and stereotypes that we use to justify our inaction in guiding those who represent us say more about us than they do about them. This is certainly true of the people working within the political support apparatus. Many of the bright young things I met in Brussels lived in fear of displeasing the politicians they worked with. This is a truly depressing and self-serving mindset, and one I knew was based on all sorts of outrageously wrong assumptions. I knew it because in all the support and advice work I carried out, I felt that politicians valued my input and appreciated my frankness.

So what is my point in all of this? The point is that the world is changing around us and this is not business as usual. The action we take now, and the clarity with which we express our deepest held beliefs are what will shape the world we leave behind for our children. Democracy may well be in decline, but this decline can and must be reversed. There is no other way to do that than to start talking about what actually matters to us as individuals, as social progressives and as a society. None of it is evident and none can be taken for granted. History’s not dead yet.