Tag archive

britain

Posted on in History/Philosophy

What I Like About Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon (1737-94) was born into an old and moderately wealthy family that had its origins in Kent. Sickly as a child, he was educated at home, and sent while still a boy to Oxford. There, an illegal conversion to Roman Catholicism ruined his prospects of a career in the professions or the City. His father sent him off to Lausanne to be reconverted to the Protestant Faith. He came back an atheist and with the beginnings of what would become a stock of immense erudition. He served part of the Seven Years War in the Hampshire Militia. He sat… Keep Reading

Posted on in Politics/World

Stop Shopping Until You Drop. Or Until A Terrorist Drops You

“Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” tweeted President Trump. “These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard.” Prime Minister Theresa May and the mad media fumed over the president’s insinuation that the Parsons Green “bucket bomber” was a “Known Wolf,” and not a lone wolf. But Donald Trump was entirely on the mark. May and her men knew Yahyah Farroukh (whose information the British press is protecting). The “Known Wolf,” left free to hunt for prey, is the rule more than the exception in a country, Britain, that will do nothing to… Keep Reading

Posted on in Culture/Economics/Politics/World

Letter from England 2: Europe and the Culture War

If I were to draw up a list of the problems facing my country, and then to discuss their nature and possible solutions, I might be starting work on a rather long book. Instead, I will confine myself to what I think are the two most immediately pressing, and that are within the direct control of the British Government. These are our withdrawal from the European Union and the state of our so far uncontested culture war. I begin with Europe. When we voted, in June 2016, to leave the European Union, we were plainly willing an end without willing… Keep Reading

Posted on in History

The Duchess of Atholl: Nobility For Stalin

In the film version of George Orwell’s book Keep The Aspidistra Flying, the main character, a struggling writer, assumes correctly that because a benefactor of writers is wealthy, said benefactor is therefore a communist. This assumption was very much a reality in the upper class intellectual world of 1930s Britain. For it was not only the expensively educated like Stephen Spender and W.H. Auden–and on a more sinister level, Kim Philby–who were pro-Stalin, but also Nancy Cunard, the daughter of a shipping magnate. This zeitgeist was so pervasive, that this pampered faction had a titled conservative in their ranks; who,… Keep Reading

Posted on in History/Politics/World

Letter from England 1: Setting the Scene

I have been asked to write a weekly column on British politics. Since I am writing for a largely American readership, and since Americans mostly know little of what happens outside their own country, I think it would be best if I were to begin with a brief overview not only of what is happening here, but also of what has been happening for quite some time. David Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010 at the head of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. The Conservatives had won more seats than any other party in the House of Commons, but fallen short… Keep Reading

Posted on in Politics/World

Conservatism Resurgent: The World Turns Right

Across the globe, in elections in the United Kingdom, Israel, America, India, France, South Korea among others, the people have begun to rise up against the forces of authoritarianism, the forces of hatred and the forces of division, turning their backs on the leftist, secular, divisive ideology and the parties and the corrupt politicians – Socialists, Progressives, Liberals and Democrats – who represent it. Increasingly voters are turning right, returning to conservatism that harbors values and ideas that form the foundations of morality, ethics, liberty and freedom. In America, the Republican party benefited from the rise of the Tea Party – a grassroots response… Keep Reading

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