Moreover the understanding that children are innately serious has been lost. The emphasis is on fun and self-expression. Each child's individuality is nurtured, their feelings meticulously considered. Much is made of teamwork , an important skill in the contemporary workplace. But teamwork is project-based; it is too shallow for loyalty and too flexible and temporary for a sense of collective identity. In secondary schools there is a new emphasis on aspiration: education is "sold" to students as a means to achieve wealth and status. Children are regularly asked to assess their lessons in a peculiar variation of customer feedback. They have become consumers rather than citizens.

As a result patriotism has become difficult to grasp. It requires one to shoulder the blame for wrongs done as well as pride in great achievements, the humiliations as well as the triumphs. It requires commitment, at the heart of which is sacrifice. Contemporary attempts to revive patriotism urge people to select Britishness as one aspect of a composite personal identity, and to view Britain as a huge corporation. Here is a recent attempt by the Prime Minister to market Britain in this way: "We come as a brand—and a powerful brand . . . Team GB. The winning team in world history." The vision revealed in this speech (a particularly grim example of the collapse of public discourse) was expressed in February 2014 at the start of the referendum on Scottish independence. Its debased conception of British identity is in some respects worse than the simple absence of patriotism.

This soulless, ersatz patriotism has arisen in the aftermath of the long withering of religion. Writing 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville observed with characteristic foresight that "as the light of faith gradually dims, men's range of vision grows narrow . . . they seek the immediate gratification of their smallest wishes."

He went on: "In sceptical times, therefore, there is always the danger that men will surrender themselves endlessly to the casual whims of daily desire and that they will abandon entirely anything which requires long-term effort, thus failing to establish anything noble or calm or lasting."

Absence of belief in absolute truth paves the way for subjectivity and relativism, while depriving people of the sense that their innermost self is known and witnessed. This has further contributed to the self-scrutiny, self-reference and self-documentation of contemporary narcissism. (Auden remarked that in the English novels of his time, only Grahame Greene's characters had souls.)

The parish church provided witness to the unfolding of individual lives and a place within which one is known in a public rather than an intimate way. As an intermediate space between the protection of the family and the chaos of strangers, church offers respect and recognition without intrusion.  The urge to expose one's personal life and feelings to strangers arises in part from the loss of spaces such as these.

The new narcissism is taught as an examination technique. Here are some tips from a GCSE revision guide for the English Writing examination:

• Use Emotive Language to get through to your reader . . . You could tell them some shocking or disturbing facts.
• Use Facts and Statistics . . . You can make these up if you like, but make sure they sound realistic. They'll make your argument more convincing.
• Add Generalisations . . . They're a good way to sound forceful and convincing.
• Include Personal Anecdotes to add interest.
• Present Opinions as Facts . . . to make your writing persuasive.