Oliver Kamm runs an occasional series on his blog called “Great Historical Questions To Which The Answer is No”. It’s a pretty self-explanatory concept: each time he will seize on a question asked by some commentator or other and expeditiously demonstrate that the answer is No. (An example here and here.)
So in a similar vein I humbly offer the first in a series of Great Cultural Questions To Which The Answer Is Yes, prompted by a piece in yesterday’s Guardian by Mark Lawson entitled “Is it time to kill off Big Brother?“. Lawson presents us with a 2,000 word article when, in fact, one word would have amply sufficed. Not only is the answer manifestly obvious, it has been so for many, many years.
