This brilliant essay describes America's future.
Posted on 04/24/2007 12:16:38 AM PDT by ruination
ST GEORGE'S Day should be an occasion for patriotic celebration.
But for those of us who love this land, today has the tone of a funeral wake.
The England that we cherished has disappeared. We can only raise our glasses to the memory of a once great country whose spirit has been broken by her own rulers, its fabric torn apart by social revolution.
The words of that stirring wartime song There’ll Always Be An England have acquired a tragic poignancy. For there is no longer a real England – not the England that was once renowned for its gentleness and humour, its decency and sense of history, its rich language and inspiring landscape.
The relics of our past are still around us – such as the monarchy or the village green –‑but they have been robbed of all meaning and vitality, becoming little more than heritage landmarks in a place without a soul.
The country of Shakespeare echoes to the babble of a thousand foreign tongues. The land of Elgar is held hostage by the thud of the rapper’s boom-box. The stiff upper lip has been replaced by the wail of victimhood. A land that used to be known for its lack of crime is now scourged by gang violence, shootings and stabbings.
The English traits of modesty and moderation have been lost to a tidal wave of extremism, terrorism, obscenity and cruelty. Our political system, once the least corrupt in the world, is riddled with ballot-box fraud. A national sense of belonging has given way to mutual distrust.
As an outsider but a passionate Anglophile I have been disturbed by these changes to England’s character. I was born and brought up in Northern Ireland but to me England seemed like the promised land – a feeling that was reinforced by family holidays across the water.
As a wide-eyed youth I loved everything about England – from the metallic hiss of a London Underground train to the tender ringing of the bells in a Dorset abbey. It seemed a world so different from the bigotry, insecurity and ethnic strife of my native Belfast.
In my mid-20s I fulfilled my dream of starting a new life in England and settling here only strengthened my devotion to my adopted country.
For my love of England was inspired not just by those icons of English life such as warm beer and cricket but also by other images which resonated for me: a Suffolk wood on a October afternoon, the ravens croaking in the leafless trees; a Jack Russell terrier bounding through the daffodils in an Essex park; the sun catching the dramatic skyline of London on a summer’s morning.
But in recent years my attachment to England has faded. My sense of connection, so powerful 20 years ago, has become frayed. I increasingly feel as if I am living in a foreign land, having nothing in common with large numbers of my fellow citizens – not even a language or a shared set of values.
When I go to parts of London, Manchester or Birmingham I am struck by a sense of being in the Third World, with all its attendant chaos and tension. This is not the England that I once loved.
Yet I am told by Government and civic institutions that I am not allowed to harbour such dangerous sentiments. Instead, I should be overjoyed at the changing face of our country. In the twisted logic of the modern British state, my devotion to England – the reason I settled here – is a cause for suspicion. I should be embracing cultural diversity, not clinging to an England that is being systematically demolished.
To me this is a morally reprehensible argument. If you genuinely love something then it is grotesque to be asked to celebrate its demise. Furthermore, the demand for change only ever works one way. The indigenous population is constantly urged to adapt to the ways of migrants, who seem allowed to import their lifestyles, customs and languages wholesale into Britain without any official challenge or disapproval.
Thanks to the twin malign forces of mass immigration and multi-culturalism, the scale of England’s transformation is alarming. Though the collapse of our borders has made records unreliable, it is probable that more than 700,000 immigrants are arriving here every year.
Before the end of this decade the majority of London’s residents will be from non-white ethnic groups. Other cities will soon follow. On even a conservative estimate, the indigenous population of England will be in a minority before the end of this century. And the pace of change is being accelerated by the ruthlessly enforced official ideology of cultural diversity, which holds that any manifestation of traditional patriotism is akin to racism.
It is often said that Labour’s policy on immigration has been a failure. But for the ruling metropolitan elite it has been a huge success. The promotion of influxes of Third World and Eastern European migrants has been the central part of a deliberate strategy to change England for ever.
Full of loathing for their own country, Left-wingers recognised that they could not bring about their revolution by economic means after the downfall of communism. So instead they have cynically used mass immigration as a battering ram against old England – turning this once proud nation into little more than a landmass full of conflicting minorities.
Rupert Brooke wrote in his 1914 poem The Soldier of “some corner of a foreign field, that is forever England”. Almost a century later the foreign fields are now filling up almost every corner of England itself.
Rule, Britania, Britania rules the waves;
Britons nee’eer will be slaves . . .
We only hope.
The decline following the destruction of fatherhood.
This is such a sad piece. Britain and the USA are held hostage by the PC police and it is to the detriment of us both. I read yesterday where Maya Angelou condemned racism, sexism, ageism and smoking. I thought ‘smoking’?? We aren’t allowed to speak the truth because we will be branded bigots. If we don’t agree with the gay agenda we’re branded homophobes. The Left in both our great countries will bring about the destruction of our way of life. We must fight back harder.
About thirty years ago there was a joke about a woman who traveled with her husband on business trips to many countries. Shopping was a problem where a language barrier existed. So she hit on a time saver that served her well.
On one such trip, she opened a shop door and instead of entering, called in her usual question, “Does anyone here speak English?”
She was stunned by the quick reply, “Madam, you’re in England.”
That joke was funny thirty years ago. Today, nobody would understand it.
just a minute.... hold the bus....
theres that ying and dang yang thing
that deserves valuable mention
how do you feel about the chinese thought police giving addiction counseling to kids who spend too many hours in the worlds greatest library.... the internet?
how do you tink the iranians and the mideast feel about the same... their culture being exposed to american/ global ideas and knowledge.... let alone social trends?
I’m sure they feel eroded as well.
I’ll bet though.... that our impact on these nations is far greater as the bulk of the oppressive regimes are locked in the 9th century. Particularly the 7th century islamists.
The power o the pen at work again.
Let the internet flow.... uncrimped!
Ruination, that’s a beautiful article.
And isn't that exactly what is going on right here?
I ws thinking this same thing earlier tonight. I don’t know what prompted it, but I mourn the passing of a once-great nation.
This brilliant essay describes America's future.
Question: Where these things there all along, successfully veneered by traditional "Britishness"? Or did they come rushing in to fill the void caused by the crumbling of traditional "Britishness"?
(Not a loaded question, just that the writers above statement started me wondering.)
Societies tend to evolve — if they’re lucky.
Carolyn
How? I mean specifically what can we do that would accomplish anything? See my tag line.
Carolyn
See my tag line. I am afraid you may be too late.
Sad very sad. I often wonder what feelings our elected officials such as our President, think when they read an article such as this. Do they see the world’s problems as I do?
The bigot comment referred to not being able to call illegals, illegal. I KNOW we are a good influence. Now if we could just get the traitors like Pelosi tried in a court of law. Not even our President holds Dems accountable for anything criminal. Look at Berger.
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