OVER THERE AND ALL OVER HERE....
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 07:28AM 
I have been reflecting a little on the difference between the political narrative in the UK and that in the US - having experienced them both in the past few weeks.
I believe that there are fundamental differences but they have little to do with politics and everything to do with people. The US still revolves around the sense of the individual and an idea of self-responsibility. This comes across so strongly to me and it is there in conversations with those from various parts of the political spectrum. It is the "I" that matters. I don't mean to say that Americans are selfish - quite the opposite in fact, a more generous people one would struggle to find. However they tend to look for solutions from within themselves, they seek to solve issues with a can-do attitude.
By contrast, the UK (and in truth the European) attitude is different. It has transmogrified into a group think mindset - it is about how the State can help, what the State can do to solve our problems. It is about a grudging and shrill entitlement to rights, not responsibilities. There is a shrugging of the shoulders and a sense of past glories being all that remains. It is the "we" that prevails with a slavish intellectual investment in politicians as our would be saviours.
It was Sir Winston Churchill who wryly observed that "You can always rely on Americans to do the right thing - after they have tried everything else."
Well, in these times, the UK doesn't even try to do anything lest it be seen as wrong. (I offer you David Cameron as evidence of the shocking decline and fall of British conservatism)
Decades of socialism (temporarily ameliorated by the Thatcher years) in one form or another has stolen the great from Britain and substituted a snivelling apologetic victimised zombie nation in it's place.
We need to take a lesson from our American cousins and get up off our knees as a Nation State. We need to assert control of our own future. Instead of looking to politicians for answers, we should look within and then TELL the politicians what we expect from them. If we don't it will be all over here and all that remains of liberty and hope will be over there.
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Reader Comments (13)
Welcome back David, and an interesting comment.
The "government must fix it" mentality is particularly entrenched here in Northern Irleand, where the entitlement mentality (that means entitlement to taxpayers' money) dominates all political parties.
I have had the pleasure of working with Americans, and as you say the "can do " mentality is one of the qualities which sets them apart from their European forbears. Their generosity, enthusiasm and willingness to tackle problems stands in stark contrast to our fearfulness and dependency on the State to solve everything.
I once had the opportunity of going on board a US warship on active service. What struck me was that the crew regarded it as the "People's Navy", not the Government's warship. They were polite, respectful and obviously proud of who they were and what they represented.
All of that is now under attack, and if it falls we can kiss goodbye to true freedom.
The great pity is that George Bush Junior's presidency opened the way to America's acceptance of Barack Obama as President.
It's not that we wish him to fail, but America must stay true to the values laid down by the Founding Fathers. Left unchecked Big business interests or the new drive towards Socialist policies will succeed in extinguishing freedom's flame.
David and family - I sorely missed being able to meet up with you and our good neighbor leftists in New York. (Okay - Phantom would not qualify as a 'leftist' - I just thought it sounded cute. Mahons? Yeah - but I'm sure he's a good neighbor..) I hope that next time we can - and possibly meet up with even more of us there.
I for one would love to see the Obama administration fail in every socialist goal, John Winslow. I am proud to say it and I don't think that it's a bad thing to say. What he and his cabal are attempting to do is nothing short of a crime in my mind. A crime against the people of the United States of America and a crime against the Constitution.
I remember the oath that I made when joining the military - to me that was a very solemn moment. It wasn't just bullshit - I meant every word that I said and would put my life on it. Some think that's silly - I assure you that it is not and the vast majority of military men and women and the veterans of the armed forces who themselves made that oath - know that it is deadly serious and we do not say the words lightly. Obama made an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, but it appears that the words were just spoken lightly in his case. Something that had to be done to get his ass where he wanted it to be.
The independent spirit is alive and well here. Unfortunately the work of the left - especially in education - has left its mark upon the youth of today. I cannot believe some of the conversations that I have with high schoolers and college kids. My God. Dumb as posts, most of them. That's where the damage is done. Do we dare hand off the baton to the younger generation as things stand now? They will have to pry my baton out of my cold, dead hands.
Monica
Monica?
You are in a better place than I to judge whether Barack Obama has a socialist agenda or not. If he has, then of course we would want to see him fail. On the other hand if he truly wants to preserve America's traditional values and strengths, then I hope he will succeed.
One thing's for sure. The West has got to stop wasting time, lives and resources in trying to bring democracy to countries that don't understand it and don't want it!
Those who think that Obama has a socialist agenda simply don't know what Socialism is. Obama is a political centrist. Economically he is, to a certain degree, a shout back to the Keynesian, Bretton Woods days but that doesn't make him a Socialist. Would anyone call Eisenhower a Socialist? Economically Eisenhower was to the left of what Obama is now. Obama is not a Friedmanite neo-liberal but that doesn't make him a Socialist.
Seamus,
Obama is a radical socialist. More dangerous than even FDR.
Was Eisenhower a radical Socialist, David? You know the President who's economic policies where to the left of Obama's? Personally, as a Socialist, I would love it if Obama was a Socialist. He isn't. He just isn't a Reagan clone either.
Seamus.
Well, you gotta spread the wealth around, right? Most important, Obama is looking more and more like a one term President. The first "post-racial" President has become the first post-American President and the omens are ominous for his radical agenda.
Nice dodge of the question there. No need to out Comrade Ike.
Obama isn't a post racial President otherwise race wouldn't be an issue. He would be known as the 44th President, not the 1st African American President. He may have a radical agenda but it is far from Socialist. Liberal, sure, but not Socialist. Socialism deals almost totally with Economics and he is a throwback as it were to previous generations of Americans, including the likes of Eisenhower and Nixon who embraced Keynesian and Bretton Woods arrangements.
Also, the Republicans need to find a candidate first and Palin isn't it. Personally, I think if Palin runs she loses. The Republicans need a more geographically relevant candidate. Someone from the Rust Belt and someone from the South. Presidents don't unelect themselves and the Republicans don't really have anyone who can challenge him.
It's interesting getting your take on Americans, David.
Overall, I'd say you've nailed about half of us and I'm not speaking of the left or right. We would rather have government be less intrusive and we do tend to turn to our own means to solve problems.
Unfortunately, nearly half of our taxpayers aren't contributing a dime and a significant number of those are reaping the fruits of redistributed wealth in the form of direct cash via income tax returns (what an oxymoron) or goods and services from the half that actually finances the country. These freeloaders on the public weal consistently turn to government to solve their problems, they have no idea of actions vs. consequences. Many of them literally have no clue where their benefits and yearly chunks of cash are generated. The idea that their neighbors, alongside complete strangers are shouldering their load financially is inconceivable to these imbeciles.
The federal and state governments constantly push to expand this class of ticks to insure their power base, they groom these citizens to wade through life fully ignorant and full of righteous expectations only the Man can meet.
This growing class of low performing, uneducated, non-paying, consequences-be-damned sheep will eventually alter this country's can-do ethos.
I have seen it written somewhere that ' a nation's altruism' will eventually prove terminal.
If the UK is anything to go by, then there is a certain truth in the statement. The damage is more to the character, fortitude and expectations of the recipients of such universal welfare, as to any damage caused to the finances of those providing it, and is such that once the process starts it is impossible to rectify without a complete collapse of the benevolent provider...
...Obama is a political centrist...
Seamus - you're an ass for saying such a thing.
No Troll you are an ass for not understanding the truth of Seamuses words