This is the age of the slogan, the soundbite, the snappy phrase in place of considered argument. Thought is dying; reason’s gone critical. In bookshops and magazine racks we’re told only what we want to hear: we’re told it in neat, bullet-pointed affirmations of our own worth.

No more. This is the fightback. The resuscitation. This is the slogan as explainer of the world. One a day for a year. Three hundred and sixty five phrases, soundbites and bullet points with which to make sense of the way things are now and point to how things could be tomorrow. Read them and weep.



Tuesday

63. An Englishman's home is his castle

Number of UK homes repossessed in 2007: 10,000
Number of UK homes repossessed in 2008: 48,000
Predicted number to be repossessed in 2009: 75,000
Total number of empty homes across the UK, at 1 January 2009: 762,000