The two major English speaking countries, the United States and Britain are led by sadistic, mentally deficient criminal thugs who even look the part of malign clowns. Australia has been led by a similar level of thug recently as I fear Canada soon will be ("Ford" a name I'm beginning to think means "should never govern a city or country"). Clearly speaking English, having English common law tradition, having the dogma of "free speech" "free press" tradition hasn't protected the so-called English-speaking Peoples from a level of depraved evil such as the bigoted popular cultures of us attribute to those who speak other languages. That "othering" of others is one of the more depraved parts of English language culture, though it's far from alone in that.
That arrogant assumption that something as awful as English history, - Magna Carta, the English Reformation, the various and evolving English governments, the sort of stuff Horace Rumpole* spouted about losing in court, when not seen through the lens of BBC costume dramas, is a class-based line of not only depravity but cruelty, racism, economic plunder and despoliation which gained a world-wide empire which decayed (as all empires do) and crumbled to the point where it's possible even Scotland and Northern Ireland might leave it, maybe even, in the fullness of Boris Johnson level depraved decadence, Wales, might get out of it - is a guarantee of American democracy is such a massive delusion that anyone holding it should probably not be depended on to do much more than get food in their mouth.
The history of England as it really was, the history of the rest of the English Speaking Peoples, as those really were, give us nothing to be confident, much less arrogant about. Not that that will stop the BBC from producing more bull shit to that effect and PBS showing it to save money and to promote English language arrogance.
* I found in listening to the radio versions of the Rumple stories last winter that my affection for that character has worn thin. Many of his cherished claims were lies to start with (his recitation of Voltaire comes to mind) and John Mortimer's world-weary post-socialist cynicism and giving up seems far worse after witnessing the history of the Thatcher years and their aftermath. I think the things in 18th century "enlightenment" which quickly went sour for so many to the extent that it went from there into romanticism - which was pretty rancid itself - have turned destructive in 20th century modernism. I don't think a return to any part of that failed past will bring us to anything like safety or a decent life. If you don't get it from the distortions of a lying, posing asshole like Christopher Hitchens but get it directly from his own writings, I think George Orwell has a lot more to offer, though nothing anyone wrote is going to be without problems. It's not a joke fest but nothing much about our situation is funny.
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