Via Bros. Judd, someone is getting it.
My father's generation used to talk about Britain and the empire, the United States of America and Europe. They never talked about "the West" because such an idea had no meaning.
--SNIP--
He said: "Russia and America are both alien influences in Europe and eventually they'll both withdraw from it. Then we can return to our historic destiny." Of course I was intrigued to know what this historic destiny was (what, WWI and II didn't give him an inkling?) and eventually he blurted it out.
It wasn't particularly shocking, it was that he wanted European political union to be close and produce a state called Europe. What I hadn't realised was the sheer intensity of this man's desire for it and his near hatred of the superpowers who he thought were preventing it.
Today there's only one superpower - America. Perhaps the US deserves much gratitude for what it's done to preserve European freedom. In practice it doesn't get it. Its influence and culture are resented for reasons very close to those my tipsy German friend gave me all those years ago.
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We didn't mean to take England's birthright away and we certainly don't want it.
Nothing but pain. |