Title : The Idiocy of the Anglosphere
link : The Idiocy of the Anglosphere
The Idiocy of the Anglosphere
(A guest post by D-Jay)
Some especially committed Cannonfirers may have noticed the short profile of myself I attached to some of my earlier articles. Those with particularly good memories might recall that I am a American/Brit dual national who was born and grew up in the States and, after working for about 30 years in East Asia and Oceania, have been living near Liverpool in the UK since my semi-retirement in 2013.
Boy do I know how to pick ‘em.
In 2016, I had the dubious distinction of being on the losing side of two of the most disastrous elections in human history – Britain’s decision to leave the EU and America’s selection of Donald Trump as president.
The catastrophic consequences of both choices are still unfolding, but it hasn’t been pretty on either side of the pond. In the US, democracy is one election away from collapse as our American Nero blithely fiddles the country towards a raging inferno. In the UK, meanwhile, Trump mini-me Prime Minister Boris Johnson dithers, delays and dissembles while Europe’s worst coronavirus performance re-ignites and the economy faces collapse if no post-Brexit trade agreement is reached with the EU before the looming deadline of December 31st.
Now we the reason BoJo hasn’t tried harder to reach a settlement with the EU, in spite of the potentially catastrophic results if he doesn’t.
Boy do I know how to pick ‘em.
In 2016, I had the dubious distinction of being on the losing side of two of the most disastrous elections in human history – Britain’s decision to leave the EU and America’s selection of Donald Trump as president.
The catastrophic consequences of both choices are still unfolding, but it hasn’t been pretty on either side of the pond. In the US, democracy is one election away from collapse as our American Nero blithely fiddles the country towards a raging inferno. In the UK, meanwhile, Trump mini-me Prime Minister Boris Johnson dithers, delays and dissembles while Europe’s worst coronavirus performance re-ignites and the economy faces collapse if no post-Brexit trade agreement is reached with the EU before the looming deadline of December 31st.
Now we the reason BoJo hasn’t tried harder to reach a settlement with the EU, in spite of the potentially catastrophic results if he doesn’t.
(Think a 30% price increase on imported goods, 20 mile traffic jams on both sides of the Channel Tunnel, no more health care for Brits living in the EU, shortages of food, medicine and spare parts, visas and international driving permits suddenly needed for European travel, and a sudden shortage of health care workers in the middle of a pandemic, to name just a few of the problems likely to occur.)
He’s been waiting to see if his good buddy Trump gets re-elected or not in November.
According to today’s Guardian:
Right.
I often find myself wondering what it is about the Anglosphere, or at least the US/UK “A-Team,” that makes us so dumb. How is it that, with all our scientific know-how, wealth and democratic traditions, we have been getting it so disastrously wrong on such important issues? Why do my two countries both have some of the world’s worst Covod-19 results? Why do we have some of the greatest wealth inequality among all developed nations? Why do we both accept so much Russian interference (in the Brexit campaign as well as the US presidential elections) and place so little value on science and critical thinking? Why are both states ruled by political parties who get less than 50% of the vote?
Could it be our arrogance?
Does the myth of American exceptionalism make it impossible for most Americans to honestly examine their country’s shortcomings or blind them to the ways in which other countries might have found to do some things better than us?
Have the British ever realized that they are no longer a great imperial power?
Do the citizens of either country understand how much is riding on the decisions we will make in the next few weeks and months?
Sad to say, I doubt it.
At this critical point in world history, I really hope that our brothers and sisters on both sides of the Atlantic will take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves if they like what they see.
He’s been waiting to see if his good buddy Trump gets re-elected or not in November.
According to today’s Guardian:
Ivan Rogers, who was the UK’s permanent representative in Brussels from 2013 to 2017, told the Observer that a view shared by ministers and officials he has talked to in recent weeks in several European capitals, is that Johnson is biding his time – and is much more likely to opt for no deal if his friend and Brexit supporter Donald Trump prevails over the Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.Good thinking Boris…of course you can rely on Trump to give you a great deal. He’s such an honorable man of his word, after all. He would never insist on you privatizing parts of the beloved NHS public health system or accepting without question every chlorinated chicken or genetically modified organism his US buddies might want to sell.
Rogers said: “Several very senior sources in capitals have told me they believe Johnson will await clarity on the presidential election result before finally deciding whether to jump to ‘no deal’ with the EU, or to conclude that this is just too risky with Biden heading for the White House, and hence live with some highly suboptimal (for Johnson) skinny free-trade agreement.”
Rogers said that if Trump won he and others in Europe believed Johnson would think “history was going his way” with his rightwing ally still in the White House. The prime minister would therefore be more likely to conclude he could strike a quick and substantial post-Brexit US-UK trade deal than if Biden emerged as president after the 3 November poll. By contrast, a Biden administration would prioritise rebuilding relations with the EU that have been damaged by Trump.
Right.
I often find myself wondering what it is about the Anglosphere, or at least the US/UK “A-Team,” that makes us so dumb. How is it that, with all our scientific know-how, wealth and democratic traditions, we have been getting it so disastrously wrong on such important issues? Why do my two countries both have some of the world’s worst Covod-19 results? Why do we have some of the greatest wealth inequality among all developed nations? Why do we both accept so much Russian interference (in the Brexit campaign as well as the US presidential elections) and place so little value on science and critical thinking? Why are both states ruled by political parties who get less than 50% of the vote?
Could it be our arrogance?
Does the myth of American exceptionalism make it impossible for most Americans to honestly examine their country’s shortcomings or blind them to the ways in which other countries might have found to do some things better than us?
Have the British ever realized that they are no longer a great imperial power?
Do the citizens of either country understand how much is riding on the decisions we will make in the next few weeks and months?
Sad to say, I doubt it.
At this critical point in world history, I really hope that our brothers and sisters on both sides of the Atlantic will take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask themselves if they like what they see.
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