societal crises – Stepping Stones

From beginning to end Years and Years – through the character Vivienne Rook and her Four Star Party – illustrates the process by which pantomime politics produces perilous populism—and how Britain becomes a mirror image of its historical Nazi nemesis.

Parts I, II, and III of this article series examined the various societal and international themes derived from the prophetic fiction series Years and Years, specifically those that have become ever more pertinent due to the Russia-Ukraine War and its emergent consequences. Respectively, the themes discussed were Refugee & Housing Crises, Nuclear Attack & World War, and Financial & Employment Crises. Furthermore, this particular succession of socio-international themes was shown to comprise a logical chain reaction of crises that can be traced through the series’ narrative, implicitly when not explicitly.
Part IV presents the culmination of this chain reaction of developments in what can be thought of as their sociopolitical ‘endgame’ and the ‘comeuppance’ of accumulated follies: neo-fascism*.

*To avoid ambiguity in using this term, the Wikipedia definition will suffice here: “Neo-fascism is a post-World War II ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment as well as opposition to liberal democracy, parliamentarianism, liberalism, Marxism, capitalism, communism, and socialism.”

‘…and War begat **Sanctions**… and Sanctions begat **Banking Crash**… and Banking Crash begat **Financial Crisis**… and Financial Crisis begat **Unemployment**… and *Unemployment* begat…’ So continues the *Years and Years* prophecy…

Part I and Part II of this article series discussed the themes of housing crisis and limited nuclear war, as represented in the prophetic fiction series Years and Years and in relation to the ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine War, both primarily with concern to British society.
The theme explored in Part III is one emphasized in the second episode and remains a consistent theme throughout Years and Years: Economic Collapse. In fact, the series shows multiple economic crises to be indirect effects of the nuclear attack, thereby suggesting the consequences of an equivalent action in the real world; and more specifically, the political (re)action to it and the ramifications of such an action.