I do think a bit of empathy for these racist dewds might help this situation (empathy's always best spent on people way outside of your viewpoint). Even before the rise and renaming of BNP to UKIP, I did get the impression that there were a ton of angry white peoples around with a big vinegary chip on their shoulder about where exactly the Great in Great Britain went. It may have been something inherited from their parents, who had to endure rationing, scrimp-and-save culture for far longer than any non-Communist post-war nation. Having Had and Lost is, in some ways, a bigger pill to swallow than Never Had At All- the latter can always aspire to greatness, while the former is forced to internalise and feed their wounded pride. This may be one reason why, on a whole, we have one of the gloomiest, weariest national characters going. It seems like that internalised anger has erupted, a generation or two down the line, and naturally been funnelled into the most defenceless of targets.
As a Gaia-worshipper who loves to spend a few days every couple of weeks hammocking wild in and around ancient downland, woodland and valleys, if we've got to have a backwards-looking national character (and I don't think we do), then one invoking pre-Norman days would be a good place to start. I just feel we look back far too bloody much as it is, and cleaning the slate might be our best bet. It's time to join the world.
|
