What is Britain for? Who is it for?
As the title suggests these likely-meandering posts are more likely to consist of questions more than answers. Any constructive response is welcome via the Comments feature.
Could the British Isles be populated with a majority of peoples who have arrived within the last 2 or 3 generations and still sensibly be called Britain? Isn't 'Britain' a shorthand for the story of the peoples who have long inhabited, and been shaped by, the lands bearing that collective name?
The gathering speed and rising unpopularity of mass immmigration into Britain would seem to suggest that those in executive power don't see it that way. Evidently the people who identify themselves with Wales, England, Scotland and N Ireland have a very different notion of a claim on, and loyalty to, their country than the elite. I suspect much the same could be said for many in the Irish Republic.
I've often heard expressed the soundbite that Tony Blair's govt regards itself as engaged in "rebranding" Britain, but heard little about what this really means, as if it had little consequence, or as if its most serious consequences were reserved for those that the person talking was not interested in reaching. "The need to compete in the increasingly-competitive global market" and "the growing challenge of China & India" are also soundbites that turn up a lot. Can't shake the feeling that these are specimens of coded utterance where members of local elites using public communication channels disguise the significance of their discussions (essentially, "How are we going to drive down the pay & conditions of those proles still in work without eliciting an inconvenient reaction") so as not to risk attention from those whose business (by virtue of their position in the food-chain) such affairs are not.
Probably the elite see themselves as synonymous with Britain, the remaining bodies being a bulky cost or large resource depending upon the issue at hand, and one that can be attracted, repelled, swapped out, remaindered, replaced with higher value stock, put away in a cupboard etc as the terms of the competition between each country's elites determines. Perhaps this is the working definition of the 'Market State'.
Could the British Isles be populated with a majority of peoples who have arrived within the last 2 or 3 generations and still sensibly be called Britain? Isn't 'Britain' a shorthand for the story of the peoples who have long inhabited, and been shaped by, the lands bearing that collective name?
The gathering speed and rising unpopularity of mass immmigration into Britain would seem to suggest that those in executive power don't see it that way. Evidently the people who identify themselves with Wales, England, Scotland and N Ireland have a very different notion of a claim on, and loyalty to, their country than the elite. I suspect much the same could be said for many in the Irish Republic.
I've often heard expressed the soundbite that Tony Blair's govt regards itself as engaged in "rebranding" Britain, but heard little about what this really means, as if it had little consequence, or as if its most serious consequences were reserved for those that the person talking was not interested in reaching. "The need to compete in the increasingly-competitive global market" and "the growing challenge of China & India" are also soundbites that turn up a lot. Can't shake the feeling that these are specimens of coded utterance where members of local elites using public communication channels disguise the significance of their discussions (essentially, "How are we going to drive down the pay & conditions of those proles still in work without eliciting an inconvenient reaction") so as not to risk attention from those whose business (by virtue of their position in the food-chain) such affairs are not.
Probably the elite see themselves as synonymous with Britain, the remaining bodies being a bulky cost or large resource depending upon the issue at hand, and one that can be attracted, repelled, swapped out, remaindered, replaced with higher value stock, put away in a cupboard etc as the terms of the competition between each country's elites determines. Perhaps this is the working definition of the 'Market State'.
posted by Reimer at 2:54 AM
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