We live in the Age of Neo-Stupidity. The return of the flat-earthers. The rise of the anti-vaxxers. The gathering hordes of creationists, conspiracy nuts and the deniers of science. It is a flanking attack on reason from left and right. Although Donald Trump's tilt at the US presidency has shone a light upon the ugly, batshit craziness of the so-called alt-right, there's plenty of crazy to go around on the far left too. In fact, on some issues they meet in the middle of their own howling intellectual wasteland.

Last week's storm in South Australia, the one that knocked out the entire grid, brought the crazy in claims by some very mainstream political figures that it was all the fault of renewable energy. It was one step from there to blaming gay Muslims and aliens for the blackout.

Thompson's book is focused less on Donald Trump himself than on the conditions that sustain him - and on what, if anything, can be done to reverse them. Credit:John Locher

How did we get here? Giving in to stupid people got us here, that's how. And saying no to stupid people is the only thing that will deliver us from this place.

As much fun as it is waking up every morning to check on overnight Trumpocalypse developments, there is a chance this man could soon have at his personal command the military resources and vast security apparatus of the world's only hyper-power. There will still be moments when that is darkly amusing, but mostly it'll just be terrifying, waiting for him to take offence at some perceived slight and fire off a couple of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles in the place of some really unhinged tweets.