ANYTHING GOES!

 

Cole Porter summed it up beautifully:

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today,
When most guys today
That women prize today
Are just silly gigolos
And though I'm not a great romancer
I know that you're bound to answer
When I propose,
Anything goes!

My generation, a slowly disappearing but vocal band of brothers and sisters hailing from the 1930s-1950s, value tradition, order, logic, consistency, patriotism, scientific progress, kindness and fairness, however imperfectly. The world of 2024, and no doubt in 2025 too, will turn all that upside down and somehow, we must resist or meekly accept the resultant anarchy. No prizes for guessing my point of view – Aux barricades, mes braves!

 

                            Liberty leading the People by Delacroix (The Louvre, Paris)

But we are uncomfortable in revolutionary mode and much prefer some gentle, if quizzical observations on ordinary life. I have the good fortune to be in North Carolina this Christmas – a chilly but bracing minus 2C today – and I have already consumed some traditional American delicacies, Blueberry muffins, clam chowder, Chesapeake oysters, moist brisket, Chick-Fil-A and blackened trout, washed down with a draught beer called Good Morning, Vietnam! All this is quite normal to Americans, but many Brits would find these names unfamiliar. Americans are different, to be sure. Some small confusion is only to be expected when Americans think trousers are pants, a jacket is a coat, and a waistcoat is a vest!

Naturally Americans cherish their history, their Constitution and are proud of their achievements. And yet, they have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a second term for Donald Trump, a convicted felon, a stranger to the truth and an ignoramus outside his passions for property development, flashy women and the game of golf. His policies of large-scale migrant deportation, weaponising tariffs, withdrawing from non-American obligations are popular but simplistic and likely to have nasty unintended consequences. I only hope he listens to experienced advice after 20 January 2025, (some hope!).

                                                Trump’s sinister police mugshot

We Brits cannot gloat – we have a much smaller economy, and we are already in a fiscal and culture-war mess as Starmer’s Left-wing fanatics begin to flex their muscles. We are seeing taxes confined to the private sector, exemptions granted to the public sector, occupational pensions attacked, farmers losing inheritance tax concessions. Much worse, the Left (including the Wet and the Woke) has infiltrated the civil service, demanding hefty rewards for failure, and has undermined the ethos of our cherished universities by supporting the practice of cancel culture e.g. trying to silence J.K. Rowling, Margaret Attwood and many others. I am not talking about some catchpenny, dim universities but leading Oxbridge colleges taking “decolonisation” to absurd lengths, under the bogus guise of “diversity”, and cringing shamefully to attract Chinese cash endowments in the case of the University of Cambridge. John Milton and Dr Johnson, robust believers in free speech, must be spinning in their graves.

Europe is in an even worse pickle. After Macron blunders, France is without a government and a coalition looks impossible. Government by decree seems inevitable, bringing who-knows-what instability. Everywhere but Britain is moving Right - Spain, Italy and the Netherlands – German elections in February will probably move in the same direction. Ireland, grandstanding as ever and dependant on American investment, has amazingly so upset Israel over anti-Semitic criticism of actions in Gaza that the Israeli embassy has closed. Trump is highly supportive of Israel and hates European parasites – expect an American exodus from tax-dodging Ireland. This Nemesis will be richly deserved. Tact and diplomacy matter! The EU has long not been a powerhouse, but rather a millstone round the neck of her undoubtedly capable business community.

With the erosion of many of her great domestic institutions, and the palpable enmity of Russia, China, Iran and N.Korea, what is the West to do to defend herself? Well, first principles first; it must arm itself to the teeth and create modern, highly professional armies. NATO will remain a bedrock, but bi-lateral alliances may play a part. The best of Western values, toleration, freedom of speech, civil order, the rule of law, genuine compassion for the disadvantaged, all must be rigorously defended. We do not need to be shy of our superiority over “third world” economies, it is beyond dispute and likely to stay that way. We have no obligation to open our borders or grant asylum to impoverished masses, who bring their native fanaticisms and hatreds to our shores. They have their ample space – do not intrude enviously upon ours!

 

The West will slay the looming dragons threatening her– do not doubt it – and preserve her eternal values. Hallelujah!

 

SMD

17.12.24

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2024