KEY POINTS:
In 1894 Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir William Harcourt told the House of Commons, as he introduced a raft of radical measures including graduated death duties: "We are all socialists now."
"We are all Keynesians now," said the economist Milton Friedman in 1965, referring to the widespread
acceptance of John Maynard Keynes' thesis that capitalism functioned better when managed by governments rather than left to its own devices.
In 1971 President Richard Nixon offered Friedman's comment by way of explanation for his embrace of policies such as wages and price controls which had traditionally been an anathema to America, let alone his Republican Party.
Shortly thereafter Keynesian economics fell out of favour. There they remained for three decades until it became clear that, left to its own devices, capitalism had gone bananas. Now, as governments seek to spend their way out of the black hole that threatens to suck us back to the 1930s, the Friedman mantra is once again echoing around the world.
Somewhere along the line "We are all ... now" became what's known as a template saying. Thus whenever Israel unleashes hell on the Gaza Strip someone, somewhere can be relied upon to intone, "We are all Palestinians now." After 9/11 we were, as the French newspaper Le Monde declared, "all Americans now". After some Danish cartoonists enraged Muslims by publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad there was even the claim that "we are all Danes now", but the global community never got its head around that notion.
But who can deny that we are all Obamaniacs now? While on holiday I was often cornered by Obama fans wanting to share their giddy excitement. On Inauguration Day - or The Coming as some called it - the true believers spent hours entranced by the spectacle of his limousine proceeding along Pennsylvania Avenue.
The only comparable phenomenon of recent times is the near universal love for Nelson Mandela. One of the few hold-outs is our very own Sir Robert Jones, who argues that it's largely based on the fact that, when the opportunity finally arose, Mandela opted not to slaughter white people. Sir Robert seems to think that this should be the entry level requirement for secular sainthood.
There are grounds for hoping that Obama will be a good President. He's got off to an encouraging start by virtue of not being George W. Bush.
Secondly, he's clearly a remarkable individual: highly intelligent, self-possessed and gracious. Thirdly, he's an elegant and good-looking chap and a compelling public speaker. These attributes endow him with star quality which, if not squandered on theatrics and ballpark love-ins, could prove an asset.
His unusual background and lack of baggage carry the promise of fresh thinking and regeneration. Yes, he's inexperienced but valuing experience above all else leads to gerontocracy and look where that got the Soviet Union.
Bush assembled a vastly experienced foreign affairs and security team and look where that got America and the rest of us.
But for all that, Obamania is unhealthy. Not so much because it's disproportionate, given that he hasn't really done anything yet, nor because it generates unrealistic expectations: that goes without saying. Every time he makes a decision, he'll disappoint some and infuriate others and a layer of support will peel away like an onion skin.
Some of his media boosters will defect, either because they feel their flattery hasn't been repaid in kind, or because Obama has failed to live up to the impossibly high standards they've set for him, or because, having built him up, they decide it's time to cut him down to size. This, too, is simply the way of the world.
Obamania is unhealthy because Obama is a politician.
This isn't to say that politics is a dishonourable calling or that politicians are, by definition, craven and mendacious wretches who are in it primarily for the baubles of office. A minority may be but by and large democracies get the politicians they deserve.
Healthy, functioning democracies require leaders with humility, good intentions, a strong sense of public service and the patience to apply themselves to problems that aren't susceptible to a blast of charm. Placing politicians on a pedestal and lavishing them with uncritical acclaim is the surest way of undermining those virtues.
