Is it a coincidence that Europe is fracturing as the generation of WW2 is fading into graves, burying their hallow points of truth into the boneyards of history?
I speak of these times, only months before my father was born in the beginning of the Boom, and young adults look at me like I am speaking of Klingons.
I listened to a British girl go off on the subject of Americans selling arms, which it is bloody shame we do,
…but she hadn’t a clue that those arms are what Churchill begged us for, in not just World War I, but World War 2, and without those arms, Hitler would have been windowshopping in Brighton by 42′.
I could have made mince meat pie of my own argument and mentioned that an American sold every European power the Maxim gun that chewed up millions of em’ in the Great War, but what is the point?
Que Sera, Sera.
Pax Europa was an unprecedented time of peace in Europe held together by the threat of Atomic energy. And the fact the Empires lost their Empires, and sex and drugs was the best option when the Socialist experiment was free to be tested when it was backed by American guns.
The Soviets changed their name, so did the KGB, but the Red Army didn’t even bother.
All the gold that was in Libya can’t save the fact England and France really can’t feed themselves, or keep themselves warm in the winter.
Now that Winter is Coming…
It’s gonna get weird. But in a land that gave us the 100 Years War, and a Seven Years War that had the American Revolution as just one backwoods theater,
…a place that in my grandfather’s time turned into a giant gas chamber for minorities and homosexuals,
I am not betting on this party lasting forever. But until then, call me the Big Brown Duke, and Let’s Dance.
I want to see all the Museums. I want to sing in their halls, I want to drink Wine where Roman charioteers spilled their own blood and Greeks recited Tragedies.
And if people have no idea what I am talking about, that’s not my problem. Just listen to the beat. And watch out for The Hook.
Back to selfies of my sweet sweet abs and more uplifting things. But like Justinian, Don’t Forget about The Blues.
An American asks the Question. The Englishman answers. I love Jonathan Waller’s answers.
A return to divisive and politically polarized rhetoric is only possible when people don’t understand the dangers that come along with it. If you lived through WW2 and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union then it did not require any imagination or abstraction in order to understand the danger. You didn’t have to read a book to know the danger.
States and groups of states like the EU, no matter how large are made up of individual people, and when most of those people can’t even maintain a self consistent position with regards to current affairs and politics, it’s to be expected that they will be unable to maintain any kind of courtesy or civility, let alone anything approaching consensus, agreement, or even tolerance.
Under these circumstances cultures and societies will find it increasingly difficult to maintain any kind of stability. Worryingly for many western states, the rhetoric has become so divisive that the only thing holding the country together psychologically seems to be the deeply ingrained infrastructure of late stage capitalism. No matter what the left wing activists say, they love their private property and consumer culture just as much as anyone else, and that is the only thing preventing much more extreme revolutionary actions from taking place.
Many people believe that we’ve learned the lessons of history adequately to prevent its repetition. Most people who have studied 20th century history would disagree. For what that is worth. Which is apparently nothing. – Jonathan Waller
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s new song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube: Tuff Gong Television. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
