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Last Night in London 12/21/2003 1:16:02 PM
A lovely evening in London at a black tie affair . . . and politics raises its ugly head. I just HAD to write this. Being an American living in the UK has its ups and downs. I’ve always loved Europe and have wanted to live here for many years. Don’t get me wrong; I’m an American and always will be. But as much as I love my country, I’d rather live “across the pond.” Europe just has more charm. Anyway, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at it. I ended up living in England, in the Midlands. Not quite continental Europe but close enough. As a lover of classical music, I took the opportunity to join a group called Classical Partners, which meets frequently for concerts and parties, not o mention overseas trips once or twice a year. (Since I became a member, we've gone to Rome to see Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and more recently to Salzburg to see Puccini’s La Boheme. Both fabulous trips.)
Last night (the night before I wrote this), the group had its annual Christmas party at the London home of one of its long-time members. It was a black-tie affair and featured live chamber music along with some great food and good wine. I usually meet new people at these affairs and, as soon as I open my mouth to speak, my nationality becomes obvious. Normally this is not a handicap but, every now and again, someone wants to criticize American policy and, especially, the current administration. I found myself defending the president and the war in Iraq, fending off the usual claims that Bush is an “idiot,” it was all about oil, etc.,etc. (Let me deal with that oil issue right now. Iraqi oil accounts for five percent of US oil consumption. Five percent! And if we wanted it that badly, why didn’t we just take it in 1991 when we had the chance?)
Well, I wanted to raise up Old Glory, wrap myself in it, and sing several verses of The Star Spangled Banner! Since September 11, 2001, we have removed two evil regimes (Kabul and Baghdad) and a third (Tripoli) has just come clean, no doubt scared by the fate of the disgusting Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, the mullahs in Tehran and little Assad in Damascus are shaking in their boots. The sheikhs in Riyadh had better clean up their act as well.
This is bad? This is the work of an idiot? Lord, let’s have more “idiocy” like this!
These folks whom I was dealing with, good people all, only know what they read in the (mostly) anti-American British press and what see and hear on British television. How easy it is to criticize from the comfort of a cozy saloon with a cocktail in one’s hand! (I must digress for a moment to give kudos to British PM Tony Blair. His domestic politics leave much to be desired but he stood foursquare with us when it counted and he still does, in spite of the demonstrations and the catcalls from the backbenchers of his own party.) The Brits, like most western Europeans, live in a welfare state which is a far cry from the mighty kingdom it once was. And, like most other European nations, they are sowing the seeds of their own destruction by letting in hordes of immigrants who are changing the very fabric of society. Mixed in with these immigrants (most of whom are good people just looking for a fresh start I might add) are extremists and terrorists and their supporters – the very people who are responsible for 9/11, Bali, Lockerbie, the bombings in Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, Istanbul, etc.
If it were up to me, the governments of Europe would put a lid on immigration, cut taxes drastically, get rid of the bloated “value-added” taxes (17.5% in Great Britain. 17.5% added to virtually everything you buy.) I’d unshackle business by doing away with most of the regulations and fire at least half of the government bureaucracy. (By the way, the United States with its quarter-of-a-billion population has a total of 535 congressmen, 435 in the House and 100 in the Senate. By contrast, the UK has 659 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons and close to 700 in the House of Lords. And that doesn’t count the newly constituted parliaments of Scotland and Wales. All this for a total population of under 60 million.)
Not of this is likely to happen of course, there are too many vested interests (as there are in America). Each government will continue to soak its population with confiscatory taxes in order to finance all-too-generous pension schemes and government give-aways. (The French are starting to realize the error of their ways, witness the recent union strikes to protest the planned cutting of their golden parachutes.) All the while their sovereignty slips away in the name of the European Union, ruled by a group of old men in Brussels who are looking more and more like an oligarchy in the making.
Have you noticed that every time a Europoean nation elects a somewhat-to-the-right, pro-American prime minister who promises to return his country to fiscal sanity and turn away from socialism, he’s beset upon immediately by the press, no to mention leftwing politicians from other countries? Let’s have more men like Silvio Berlusconi! (And women too – God bless Maggie Thatcher.)
I keep hearing about how we’re denying the “human rights” of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. That’s a laugh. Do Europeans with their history really want to discuss human rights? And I constantly hear about how we should negotiate instead of “resorting to violence.” As, perhaps, Neville Chamberlain negotiated with Adolph Hitler?
If it weren’t for the US, most Europeans would be speaking either German or Russian now. (And they know this, even if they’re not always very grateful.) And I’m confident their sons and daughters will be thanking us tomorrow when we save them from the fate of millions of Arabs and others who live under the yoke of religious despots and feudal monarchies that rule over most of the Middle East.
Okay, I’m rambling. I just got my dander up. I really love living in Europe. I love the architecture, the scenery, the food, the people (most of them!), the music, just about everything. Just don’t step on my flag, okay?
Don’t tread on me!
Alex Drinkwater, Jr.
21 December 2003
Finedon, Northamptonshire
United Kingdom
