Every month or so there is a new scandal – mass snooping by the NSA, allegations of price-fixing by giant energy companies, major banks corruptly rigging interest rates, giant modern bureaucracies like Serco and G4S ripping off the taxpayer, children‘s entertainers from the past charged with sexual abuse.

But these stories never seem to add up to a bigger picture. They are isolated events . And our reaction is always the same – shock and horror, and then it all subsides and we are ready to be shocked and horrified when the next scandal comes along.

It‘s like a ritualised dance – or the surprised kitty.