The eccentric political genius of the British

I try not to write in praise of my countrymen too often because, alas, there is all too much evidence to contradict it.  Even so, the event of 1215 in which King John signed, under intense pressure, the Magna Carta, was an event of world-wide and historic importance.  It was the foundation stone for the concept of democracy, although if any of the participants had known the long-term outcome, I suspect they would have agreed to tear it up on the spot!

Romantics (like me, I'm afraid to say) would dearly love to claim this as the first step to democracy.  Well, it was - sort of - but actually, in itself, it was just another roughly-hewn deal between two groups of powerful men trying to hang on to their riches without the risky business of going to war.  Even so, one damned thing led to another and then to another and then to yet another and - 'hey-ho!' - we were off on the democratic hurdle race.

For myriad reasons way beyond my educational 'ken', gradually, despite occasional setbacks, this democratic lark actually ascended until it became the icon for other nations to try and emulate it.  Not, of course, that it is political perfection, not least because it is operated by human beings - yeeeeees, quite!  Even so, where it has worked it has, by and large, been incredibly beneficial to people of all classes.

So, all I can say is, jolly good show, Britain!

 

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

Good spot for this. The Smithsonian published this over here about Western culture, "White Civilization", Britain etc. This is NOT a joke.

https://pjmedia.com/culture/tyler-o-neil/2020/07/15/smithsonian-goes-full-marxist-nuclear-family-science-christianity-all-part-of-oppressive-whiteness-n645176

[Loz]

Blimey Gaffer, having to reach back that far to find something uplifting about Blighty? Try Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations" and John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty", they're on your bookshelves somewhere. You put them under my nose 40 years ago, you seem in need of a refresher.

Whiters, gut-wrenching. How to reverse out of this one? It's like having driven into the midst of a BLM Antifa protest and trying to retreat - I fear to escape with one's life is going to require running over a few of them.

If we do make it out alive, the education system must be the first and full-on retaliatory target. No prisoners. Then AS and JSM (and Magna Carta) for the kiddie-winkies morning, noon and night for 50 years to right the ship.

SoD

[Loz]

Turning Point ...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/conservative-group-launches-divestu-to-redirect-donations-away-from-liberal-colleges

As you might expect, there's no Turning Point equivalent in the UK.

SoD

[Bob]

You Brits do tend to rest on your laurels. However, David, your reference to Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending is apt. For anyone with 15 minutes to enjoy one of the most beautiful string pieces ever written by an Englishman:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaO0432Gl18

[JK]

"You Brits do tend to rest on your laurels."

Am I misapprehending Bob that, if that's the one laurel the Brits deserve to rest on, it's "insufficient" to your lights?

[AussieD]

G'day JK

I eventually got round to watching that clip re the fire on Forestal. Made the blood run cold.

I remember when it happened. We still had two carriers at the time and there was a lot of attention paid to the Forestal incident and the lessons to be learned from it.

Bob the long hard road to democracy has been largely paved by the Brits up until the Revolution/Rebellion [choose your preferred label] which created the USofA and that could also be regarded as one as it was largely an extension of the long string of struggles by the Brits [in this case ex-pat Brits] on the path to what we now accept as democracy.

I have even seen an article by an American scholar which regarded the Revolution as an extension of the Civil War of 1642-1651. Some time ago but I will try and find the reference though as an archivist I am no match for JK

[Bob]

JK and AussieD,

I was doing what JK might call "joshing" David. He's technically correct, but you've gotta admit going back to 1215 is kind of a stretch, or there wouldn't have been the 17th century English Revolutions. Our written Constitution formally establishing a democratic republic was an improvement, but there have been a lot of other players and the process is ongoing:

https://www.oldest.org/politics/democracies/

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-worlds-oldest-democracy

[JK]

Bob especially and, AussieD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4guIynfU6fQ

And AussieD always have in mind Bob's advising me personally less than a week before all the polls (and thus all the legacy media from thereon until the legacy pollsters got their asses handed to 'em as Bob put it; "JK, I won't convince anyone. I just like to argue."

Anyway David's got a post in his archives I've got too decrepit to summon up appropriate search terms for but regardless me going to the effort I'd get back just what I got in 2016 "I just like to argue."