"If someone wants to launder 150 million, the best thing is to buy a Matisse"

Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in Great Britain. In a scathing portrayal of the British elite, Scottish writer Andrew O'Hagan has just published 'Caledonian Road' (Libros del Asteroide), a monumental and unyielding novel about post-Brexit United Kingdom. Hackers, Russian oligarchs, influencers, and corrupt aristocrats appear in this satirical fiction where everyone moves like puppets following the scent of money. After delving into the depths of the 'Wikileaks case' and a failed attempt to write Julian Assange's biography, O'Hagan has produced an ambitious work with Dickensian tones that lays bare the shame of the powerful.

-He explores the dark side of the art market. Is it as sinister as they say?

-Yes, it is very dark; it has become a sophisticated form of money laundering. If someone wants to launder 150 million, the best thing they can do is buy a Matisse. This has been explored by everyone from Madonna to the aristocracy, including gallery owners and dealers.

-Doesn't contemporary art sometimes seem like a joke to you?

-Of course, if there's a piece of gum stuck on the floor, someone will always try to convince you it's worth five million. And there are people foolish enough to believe it. It's absurd.

-Are the great powers paying for their dark colonial past with massive migrations?

-It's hypocritical that, after committing historical acts of genocide and economic violence against certain peoples, they now seek to deport these individuals or deny them entry into a decent society. That's adding insult to injury. Even our last Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who claims to be a socialist, recently declared that we didn't want the UK to become an "island of foreigners," meaning he doesn't want outsiders. It's terrible.

-Is the rise of the far-right a result of the austerity policies implemented during the Great Recession?

-Yes, of course. Economic conditions push people towards extremism. It has happened in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States. When a part of the population is condemned to poverty, people don't demand more justice, but more extremism. Fear is the great driver of political hysteria.

-Do you believe in meritocracy?

-I am an example. I grew up in social housing on the outskirts of Glasgow. My mother was a school cleaner, my father a carpenter. I have three older siblings who left school at 16. It was a working-class environment, and I managed to progress from there.

-But don't you think the social elevator has broken down in recent years?

-Yes, we are trapped in a pattern of growing separation. If we look at the United States, for example, many of the poorest people are also the most conservative. We saw it in Nazi Germany: the popular classes who felt excluded and despised ended up embracing charismatic leaders who promised revenge and disruption.

-Does that also happen with Trump?

-In the United States, the poorest or less privileged classes are increasingly the ones voting for the right. They are the same ones who elected Trump. In Germany, something similar is beginning to happen. The popular classes, the most susceptible to manipulation, are drawn to very charismatic leaders who denounce their situation and easily align with them.

-By the way, the line between Trump's private business and his performance as president is becoming increasingly blurred.

-It's astonishing. In the recent trip to three Gulf countries, everything was intertwined, cryptocurrencies, corruption, economic interests... The codes of the public have been contaminated with private interests. Trump, his children, and his cabinet act shamelessly, guided solely by the desire for personal gain. It's disgraceful.

-As a 'gentleman', are you appalled by the vulgarity of Trump and his people?

-It disgusts me. It's a manifestation of something violent and harmful. Trump is a grotesque figure. I believe that, in a few years, we will look back at this era with disbelief. Even Reagan will seem, in comparison, a model of rationality and style.

-You are a journalist. Do you think traditional media has a future?

-I grew up in the era of great journalism. These days I've been reading Joan Didion. I've realized that back then there was a genuine desire to tell the truth, to confront power. Today that desire is being interrupted by iconoclastic leaders who believe journalists should be in jail. Now, power reacts violently when questioned. I don't feel defeated or depressed. It's time to rise and fight for the truth.

-And if you have to self-criticize, what have journalists done wrong?

-To begin with, Rupert Murdoch has turned the press into an instrument subordinate to money and class ideological prejudices. It's no longer about thinking clearly, but about obeying interests. And the same goes for Murdoch, I can say about Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk: people who cynically turn communication tools into marketing instruments.

-You tried to write a biography about Julian Assange. Didn't you get seduced by the character?

-Assange is an example of how even idealists with brilliant projects can be dragged down by their own ego. I tried to help him survive himself.

-But shouldn't we be grateful to him? Thanks to him, many secrets were revealed.

-In that regard, I have a lot of respect for him. WikiLeaks has been a fundamental tool for demanding governments tell the truth. The problem is that Assange didn't protect his sources, as any journalist should. I tried to get him to clarify his political position, but he refused. He ended up making alliances with dark political forces, including Donald Trump.