Without the state

A reply from Norm

Norman Geras takes me to task for my comments about Alan Johnson's guest post on his blog. He says:

"he was reacting to a report of widespread anti-American attitudes, and *against that background* saying, 'Well, this is what I love about America.'"

To which I can only say 'so what?' A riposte to anti-americanism that lists some nice things about America simply misses the point. The fact that America has produced Ellington and many other great things says nothing about US behaviour in the world at large and writing as if it did only reinforces the stereotype of insularity and self interest.

 

Fire and Brimstone...

Ophelia Benson on good form at Butterflies and Wheels.

Glories strung like beads?

Norm has a guest post by one Alan Johnson, responding to the Economist poll that found the US at the bottom of most country's popularity lists and listing in his turn the many things he loves about America.

As lists go I have no significant problems with it - some of the things on it are indeed wonderful, starting with the greatest composer of the 20th century (Duke Ellington - as if you didn't know).

But...

I love the crunch of shingle underfoot on Brighton beach. I love the ridiculous pomposity of the Brighton Pavilion.

I love the robust splendour of Durham Cathedral, the glorious elegance of York and the drama of Salisbury Cathedral spire.

I love the resiny smell of pine while walking in the remnant of the Great Caledonian forest and the rich honey scented smell as the heather blooms across the North Yorkshire Moors.

I love the glorious treacly voice of Cleo Lain as she swoops her way through Shakespeare with husband John Dankworth.

I love the misty obscurity of Turner

I love the way the sea fret rolls inland and the way it can be 70 in Newcastle and only 50 on the coast 12 miles away

I love watching the clouds roiling around across the Northumberland Moors as the rain drives towards me.

I love the hundreds of market towns across the country - each one unique, each one with a rich history stretching back long before Europeans ever heard of North America and some even before Vinland.

I love Doctor Who - every single one of them, from the ridiculous monsters and creaky effects of William Hartnell to the brilliant performances, writing and CGI effects of the latest series.

I love the English seaside, its vulgarity and cheerful hedonism.

I love the intensity of Glencoe, the  bleakness of the Fens, the lush green of Shropshire and the Marches.

I love the memory of Jimmy Greaves scoring five beautiful goals (unfortunately against Newcastle). I love the way in which the memory of Jacky Milburn lived on, so that the streets of Newcastle were lined for his funeral, some 30 years after he last played there.

I love Thomas Hardy and the endless inventiveness of his poetry, each one with a format perfectly matching the content.

I love the exuberance of Dickens, especially Great Expectations and David Copperfield.

I love the wonderful subtlety of the Ealing comedies, their delicate but affectionate skewering of the establishment. I love the wonderful and very unsubtle Carry On films.

...I could go on to produce a list as long as Mr Johnson's, but that is not the point. The production of his list, as if no other country in the world has such treasures but America, could not be a clearer demonstration of why the USA has found itself at the bottom of other peoples party invitations!

And while we are at it what about the British soldiers who guarded voting stations in Iraq - and the Poles and all the others?

So whatever anyone says, this world of ours is not the USA, its people or its government and so long as I can I will look outward, not to the narrow confines of a single society, but to the endless variety and ingenuity of humankind across the globe.

They have a strange sense of humour on Samizdata...

Perry de Havilland gets off one of his bizarre 'humorous' posts on Samizdata, this time indulging in a nice bit of stereotyping about the French and the Germans. Predictably all the usual suspects pop out of the woodwork in the comments.

When I first discovered blogging, Samizdata.net was an eye opener - critcal intelligent comment on issues ignored by mainstream media from a truly radical perspective. Now they seem to have lost their way with a succession of whinging and whining posts. Brian Micklethwaite, one of the regular posters on Samizdata has remarked on this trend himself in a Libertarian Alliance pamphlet.

Loser libertarianism says that the world is going to hell and that there’s nothing to be done about this. Loser libertarianism says: I am not free. My life is a failure, but it’s not my fault. My life would work fine, if only taxes weren’t so high, if only the Surveillance State wasn’t spying on me all the time, if only government regulations weren’t so crazy, if only the State wasn’t sending anthrax through the post and blaming it on Arabs and using that as an excuse to fight wars and put up taxes, if only bad people didn’t control the mass media and the schools and colleges and brainwash everybody, if only people in black helicopters weren’t selling my country to evil foreigners, if only, if only, if only. Winner libertarianism is about how to make the world better, and how the world is, at least in some ways, actually getting better.

Winner libertarianism explains how I can make my life a success. I am free. Yes, governments do bad things, as do others, but they can be confronted, resisted, criticised, and sometimes – quite often actually – defeated. They can also be got around or even made use of, if you choose something to do that the politicians are now not ruining, or perhaps even organising quite well, or if you learn better than others what the government is doing, good and bad.

It seems that in Brian's terms there are too many 'losers' on Samaizdata these days. A pity, because what they aim to do (as opposed to what they are doing) is sorely needed.

I'll be back...

Not for the first time, blogging has been pretty thin in these parts the last few weeks. I haven't lost interest - I just don't have time. Indeed, there is lots I want to say - about my possible move home, about my possible retirement (again), about my desire to take up painting again, about life, the universe - everything. I will do it, I will - but not just yet!

In the meantime, if you need stimulation you could do worse than read any of these varied and challenging blogs:

Normblog
Fragments from Floyd
Time Goes By (and the companion blog on Ronni's own move)
Cool Town Studios
Jim Kunstler
Mutualist Blog
Samizdata - so long as they are not taking themselves too seriously!
Neighbourhoods

The knock on the door...

Appalling.

Bike Trip

Bike Trip, originally uploaded by ibanda.

I've been busy these last few weeks with family business so blogging and photography have had to take a back seat. This is just by way of letting you know I'm still here!

Cheap shot...

This post on Samizdata.net, uses the same sort of cheap trick so often ascribed to those making the case for climate change being real (arguing from limited - indeed in this case a single - data point). Note how in response to the sole contrary comment the post is described as a joke.

Ha ha