Six years ago, the world was overtaken by a kind of mass psychosis. The death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25, 2020, led to riots and statue-smashing across three continents; to corporations, universities, and public bodies adopting racist policies; to police officers, who had previously pounced on the slightest lockdown infractions, dropping to their knees in the face of organized criminality.

Such was the collective dementia that few dared complain. Even the most insane stories — 1,200 public health professionals asserting that people should stay indoors other than for Black Lives Matter protests, for example — were reported with a straight face. Anyone who expressed the banal opinion that “all lives matter” risked being fired.