In the film Goodbye Lenin!, a Communist Party stalwart wakes up after lying in a coma throughout the downfall of the former East Germany. Fearful that the news of so much change will trigger another heart attack, her well-meaning son goes to absurd lengths to convince her that the German Democratic Republic is alive and well, even putting Dutch gherkins in a Soviet-era jar. Here in the UK, the fear is the reverse: it’s that the body politic won’t survive unless it can be convinced everything is changing. Which brings us to myth five: that we can achieve empowerment through disempowering actions.