Lament the Americanisation of British culture? Guy Fawkes is your man, says historian David Cannadine in his weekly opinion column.
Strange, from the looks of things Britain is turning into an Islamic state.
But as his statue there reminds us, Nelson lost an arm and an eye in the service of the state. Which means he showed that disability was no obstacle to achievement well over 100 years before the wheelchair-bound Franklin Roosevelt became president of the United States and long before David Blunkett was ever even heard of.
Tacky or what? It's great to be proud of your heritage but what's up with the disability oneupmanship? All of these men, and all others like them, should be admired for their courage in the face of adversity and not used in this fashion.
Cannadine continues...
It's a strange festival, part pagan, part Christian, which can be traced back in these islands to Celtic and medieval times. But in its present-day guise, we associate it with America, with kids dressing up in spooky and lurid costumes, who then go trick or treating - a custom I first encountered when I visited the United States as a graduate student in the early 1970s.
Halloween has long been big business in America, but it's only very recently become big business here in Britain, where it's now much easier for shops and supermarkets to sell pointed hats in garish colours than fireworks.
And why is it harder to sell fireworks nowadays? Because many areas of Britain put restrictions on the sale of them for safety reasons. In fact, Britain has been looking at an outright ban on their sale to the public. Hardly America's fault.
And what's wrong with the "big business" part of it. I'm always amazed why business people don't use such events to create more business.
Take Saint Patrick's Day for example, it is widely celebrated in America. Many business, mostly pubs and restaurants do a roaring trade on the day. Here in Scotland it passes without any notice. Why not use the occasion to drum up trade?
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.source
Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.
Think about all the jobs and extra revenue that is created. And everyone has a great time to boot!
It's the same with Halloween. Halloween in America is a great family day and is widely celebrated. Most families have a great time dressing their kids up and carving the pumpkin. Again think of all the jobs and extra revenue created while everyone has a great time.
If any of these has to do with national identity it's having fun, doing things with family and friends while creating national wealth at the same time.
Britain could do with having a lot more celebrations.
But although it's been around for much longer, the prospects don't look quite as good for Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night once this anniversary is past. Britain is not the Protestant nation it was when I was young: it is now a multi-faith society. And the Americanised Halloween is sweeping all before it - a vivid reminder of just how powerfully American culture and American consumerism can be transported across the Atlantic.
That multi-faith society is what is sweeping all before it.
Muslims blow up over 50 innocent British people and what does Britain do? They ban Piglet of Winnie the Pooh fame. Are they going to ban pork altogether next?
How bad is Muslim appeasement in Britain? This bad.
Previous U.K. successes include banning a 100 year old statue of a wild boar, police seizure of porcelain pigs displayed in the window of a private home, and the removal of a sign referring to "pork" at a British pub frequented by butchers.
Along with Winnie the Pooh, some British schools have also removed or restricted the following "anti-Muslim" children's books...
The Three Little Pigs
Charlottes Web
Babe - The Sheep-pig
Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Olivia Saves the Circus
Animal Farm
Slowly but surely Britain is turning into an Islamic state.
Meanwhile, the EU is not to be outdone.Orders from Brussels: Spell Christ with a lower-case "c".
Cannadine ends with this...
But here, perhaps, is an opportunity for the revival of 5 November. For those who wish to protest at the ever increasing Americanisation of our world might take up Bonfire Night as their cause. Guy Fawkes may have been a bad Briton, but in some ways he was a good European, and from there it's only a step to pulling faces at Uncle Sam.
I'd like to see Paul Reynolds spin this one.
Cannadine joins the ever growing list of anti-Ameircan BBC employees who spout out their bile on the BBC's webpages. Remember Justin Webb's rant posted on the mast head of this blog:
"America is often portrayed as an ignorant, unsophisticated sort of place, full of bible bashers and ruled to a dangerous extent by trashy television, superstition and religious bigotry, a place lacking in respect for evidence based knowledge. I know that is how it is portrayed because I have done my bit to paint that picture..." BBC's Washington correspondent Justin Webb
The entire BBC is painting that picture and trying to turn Britain and as much of the world as it can against America.
We need a growing number of bloggers to join me, and these folks in exposing the BBC's anti-American and anti-Jewish agenda.
Biased BBC
Talking Hoarse
The Daily Ablution
Melanie Phillips
Blithering Bunny
BBC Watch
Last Nights BBC News
The UN Special Commissioner
Shadow Chaser
Honest Reporting
House of Dumb
American Expatriate
Adloyada
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment