I too am in mourning for London. I was there in 2005 for the bombing where 52 people died. Our kids were 8. How to explain about the bad people in the world? How quickly London has forgotten.
I will never forget Daniel Pearl. I went to HS with him. He was in all the “gifted” classes. (Today they would be AP.)
Since 2020 Cambridge has been trying to refute the existence of Anglo Saxons in British history in an attempt to make the university “less racist”. Nottingham university has too, which is particularly galling seeing as the ham in Nottingham is the Anglo Saxon etymological root of “home”.
Dissolve history and all pride in it and reshape a nation. Marxist playbook that has marched through the institutions and infected it.
Polynesian culture ( they’re allowed one ) says history is in front of you and the future is behind. I like this outlook because it means you can see your history, it’s happened, it’s tangible, and we are busy purposefully blinding ourselves.
Ironically I’m writing in English, which owes a lot to Anglo Saxon, and is probably one of our biggest cultural exports.
"Polynesian culture ( they’re allowed one ) says history is in front of you and the future is behind."
Interesting.
Polynesian culture is fascinating. I'm too old go read about it now but when I was a kid I loved reading about them.
A few years ago I discovered a wonderful NZ writer (I have to look her up, my memory isn't what it used to be) who wrote several classics about the Polynesians, mostly of Tahiti & NZ.
They were hardcore - had slavery, cults, and were very warlike. Also amazing.
EDIT: I was able to look up the name of this scholar - it's Anne Salmond. Anyone interested in Polynesian culture should read her books. I admit I could only give them a scan. They're very dense. What a remarkable people the Polynesians were.
I get the sentiment but don’t agree. The Brits need to reach deep and fight for their country. This is just one more time that they have to overcome, as they have many times in the past.
It's not exactly 'just one more time'; in the past, the threats were usually external: the English at least had a solid sense of who they were and believed in themselves. That has gone. This time the existential threat is internal, as the ruling class and its managerial class minions have become consumed with self-hatred. So it's hard to be optimistic. However, I agree that we must fight, whether we prevail or not. Better to go down witha sword in your hand like Harold's house-carls at Hastings than submit to euthanasia. By the way, I am an 'Oxbridge cunt' myself--Cambridge--and deeply deplore the decadence and grovelling of our universities and scholars (and I have been a professor myself). Not every scholar is a coward. My hope is that a kind of Restoration might be possible, such as happened in 1660, after the disaster of Cromwell's republican dictatorship. But we must fight back.
"never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. "
Funny you should mention Cromwell - I'm showing my ignorance here but I kind of like the guy. Tell me how wrong I am.
Cromwell was not merely a dictator, but a ruthless and cruel one, especially in Ireland, where he carried out massacres--e.g. at Drogheda, where the entire population was murdered. In addition he was a Puritan who prohibited any kind of pleasurable activity (such as the theatre, or dancing on May-Day); and a vandal. He and his men destroyed priceless treasures in our churches and cathedrals--statues, paintings, and stained glass--which they regarded as 'idolatry'. An extremely unpleasant, narrow-minded character, though admittedly probably brighter than Charles I, who was hopeless.
It doesn't have to be a man: we've had a couple of great queens. And Acton was right: the great are often bad, or at the very least highly flawed. I think our last great leader was Churchill, who certainly wasn't perfect, but was at least well-intentioned. I'm not sure a single great figure is the answer, though. They often are psychopaths and narcissists, like Alexander or Napoleon. What you really want is a great age, where a lot of brilliant figures coalesce and cohere, as in fifth-century Athens or fifteenth century Florence. Or even Regency London. No signs of that at present, though, unfortunately.
We have had that character in the past, I think, pride, patriotism, grit, determination and all that, a love of freedom, but I don't think we have it any more. When everyone meekly locked down at home and let the government tell them who they could and couldn't touch even in their own homes ! I could not believe my eyes. And the way these weekly huge antisemitic demonstrations have been tolerated. It's beyond belief. But, one must hope the worm is finally turning.
Elizabeth Nickson wrote an (IMO) epic piece here in substack maybe a month ago which, to paraphrase, boils down to woe be unto he who provokes the Saxon as they are bred to fight. It was in response to those oh so civilized See You Next Tuesdays (even the ones with penises) lamenting the thugs and hooligans who took offense at the wanton murders of little girls.
I lived in England, but outside London. I love that country and its people. I go back whenever I can. That is the real Britain. London is lost. I pray the British people will find their strength. But they are fighting a globalist government and its institutions that don’t really care about the country. And they have none of the Constitutional protects we have.
You could do with a 1st Amendment as well. Forget what Starmer’s response to Vance’s speech in Munich. You have no true freedom of speech if the government can jail or fine you for expressing an opinion.
America had the advantage of starting from scratch when we broke away from England. UK does have a constitution but it’s uncodified. Revolution versus evolution.
It’s not in our nature to just, “Die already”, Diana. We are the nation that created tolerance and Human Rights. It’s complicated but we are also the nation that held out against all odds for years against Hitler, being bombed night annd day without provocation, until America finally realised it was itself in danger if it didn’t help us. The Russians were going to and it made America look bad. Besides the Japanese attacked America at Pearl Harbour and we all needed to help each other.
We’re back again, facing great evil. An insidious evil that has been creeping into many other nations and destroying them is knocking at our door. We again need to stick together to defend ourselves. Wars are never won by being squeamish about the individuals. We have to steel ourselves to the task ahead. Europe last faced it head on at the Battle of the Mohaks (Hungary) in 1485. The enemy was at the door and the Muslims were beaten back, saving Europe. You don’t hear about it much now because it’s not fashionable.
Today we still need Middle Eastern oil so we tread carefully. We now have a cruel, authoritarian, Far Left government in the U.K., whose leader loves Muslims, so we have to be very careful what we say but don’t think for one moment because this old lion is asleep that he’s dead. Just wait.
And next time you come to Britain don’t go to cruddy places like the East End of London. It was always horrible. I know. I once lived there. Go to Devon and Dorset, or Gloucester, or Norfolk. Go to the Lake District, or the Cotswolds, or York, or Lincoln, or Salisbury. Anywhere, ANYWHERE but the dregs of the Earth, the East End of London. If you’re miserable, you asked for it by going there. Keep your beached whale. That’s not how Brits think.
Not really. Thank you for the link (very enjoyable) but, although the Anglo-Irish Johnathan Swift would no doubt have been delighted for you to think so, that honour goes to the Greeks and later was embraced by the Romans (Tertullian et al).
Well said. As an Englishman now living abroad I cannot fathom what has happened to my country since I left 40 years ago. My home town up north in now half Muslim. The last time I went I actually saw women walking around in full black burkhas.
Thank you for your letter and I am touched by your concern. I am England. It is true that I am being mismanaged and things are turbulent, and have been for several years. However, fairness and justice runs through my rivers. I am strong and to all those who care about me, I will rise from the ashes to be stronger and fairer than ever.
When I visited, I was mainly in London but I took a day trip to Cambridge, where I saw the American military cemetery. As the daughter of a WW2 vet I found it inexpressibly moving. I wept.
I wrote the post out of anguish.
I truly hope you're right.
But some things are going to have to change on a fundamental level.
You have no legally enshrined freedom of speech.
That has got to change.
Freedom of speech is a very dangerous thing - but ultimately, it's an essential part of a free society.
And as for the rapid Islamization of Britain - I have no words..
I used to think freedom of speech was the most important right we Americans have in our Bill of Rights. Now I’m sure I was wrong; the right to keep and bear arms is the most importantly fundamental right, if only because it ensures the protection of all the other fundamental rights our Creator, not the constitution, the bill of rights, nor the government, has actually given us.
Nothing wrong with the letter. It encapsulates how so many of us feel. We have lost our way and it is worse than you can imagine. But I truly hope we will recover. It will not happen overnight and will take a lot of effort, but I have to hope we will get there. It helps that those outside can feel our pain. Whilst it is an embarrassment, it can also make us feel strong. Thank you x
It's not a lot better in the US but the US has some institutional mechanisms to fight back - our Constitution and its Bill of Rights.
The situation in UK reminds me a lot of NYC where I live. It's a behavioral sinkhole run by a Democrat machine and it won't get better by human agency. It's got to go through a period of decay and renewal. But NYC is just a city. I'm not sure this works with countries.
In any case when you want to make changes as a country you have to be as clear-eyed & tough on yourself as if you're changing your diet or habits to regain health. No excuses.
Everything in the US, and I mean everything, is riding on the Supreme Court. Which will be drastically altered by the urbanites (that's what progressives are) if they are elected. Harris is already talking about 20 years out and those are not her ideas.
I think that there has been a push for dominance of a strong, centralized federal government post Civil Wary, initially at the behest of northern industrialist (many of whom were very complicit in slavery) and it has lead to what we now face - a massively, bloated bureaucracy that is too unwieldy too manage and that thinks you and I belong to it rather than the other way around. But the SC is clapping back some, finally. Although Dobbs was not about states rights per se, the result was the return of abortion to the states and is a very telling victory for the power of the states. And FWIW there is nothing that prevents a federal abortion law except 1) that "Americans agree on abortion" thing is a myth, (people may favor abortion in some circumstances but there is no agreement on those circumstances) and 2) a very feckless Congress.
Try The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley (Flags of Our Fathers and Fly Boys) about the Theodore Roosevelt era and it's role in what became WWII. It makes my blood boil. It is both well-written and well-cited.
You’ve described it perfectly. It’s ironic really because when I’m out walking my dogs, people stop and talk to me about how rubbish the UK is and these are foreigners! They say they came here because of the way it used to be. Even they are leaving!
When a country falls to Islam, it is permanent. There are no "formerly Islamic" countries in modern times. We don't talk about this nearly enough.
Yes, it is possible for a new country to be born later! We experienced this after the end of the Ottoman Empire. But the original country ceases to exist, always.
"The court heard that in a number of reports from psychiatrists they concluded that Hussain had been suffering from a schizoaffective disorder and psychosis for a number of years and there was evidence of 'paranoid delusional belief around religion'."
Can't you say this about every Jew-hating Muslim?
England brought this upon themselves by joining the European Union and its woke policies. Too bad. It was once a lovely country.
You're half-right - we are being replaced but we can do a lot...
Vote Reform UK if you can. It doesn't matter if you agree with anything else they say, the mere preservation of existence as a nation-state is sufficiently important a reason to vote for them.
I too am in mourning for London. I was there in 2005 for the bombing where 52 people died. Our kids were 8. How to explain about the bad people in the world? How quickly London has forgotten.
I will never forget Daniel Pearl. I went to HS with him. He was in all the “gifted” classes. (Today they would be AP.)
To lose such a wonderful person in such a horrible way must be excruciating.
I didn't know him, but I know him. Forget? Never. Only revenge.
As an ex-pat Londoner I thank you for your rage and your sorrow which I share.
I had reservations about writing this but I had to.
You did well. Many people relate to your words & emotions. Thank you for sharing them with us. It makes us feel a little less lost.
Since 2020 Cambridge has been trying to refute the existence of Anglo Saxons in British history in an attempt to make the university “less racist”. Nottingham university has too, which is particularly galling seeing as the ham in Nottingham is the Anglo Saxon etymological root of “home”.
Dissolve history and all pride in it and reshape a nation. Marxist playbook that has marched through the institutions and infected it.
Polynesian culture ( they’re allowed one ) says history is in front of you and the future is behind. I like this outlook because it means you can see your history, it’s happened, it’s tangible, and we are busy purposefully blinding ourselves.
Ironically I’m writing in English, which owes a lot to Anglo Saxon, and is probably one of our biggest cultural exports.
"Polynesian culture ( they’re allowed one ) says history is in front of you and the future is behind."
Interesting.
Polynesian culture is fascinating. I'm too old go read about it now but when I was a kid I loved reading about them.
A few years ago I discovered a wonderful NZ writer (I have to look her up, my memory isn't what it used to be) who wrote several classics about the Polynesians, mostly of Tahiti & NZ.
They were hardcore - had slavery, cults, and were very warlike. Also amazing.
EDIT: I was able to look up the name of this scholar - it's Anne Salmond. Anyone interested in Polynesian culture should read her books. I admit I could only give them a scan. They're very dense. What a remarkable people the Polynesians were.
Didn’t they also practice cannibalism?
I get the sentiment but don’t agree. The Brits need to reach deep and fight for their country. This is just one more time that they have to overcome, as they have many times in the past.
I hope they do.
It's not exactly 'just one more time'; in the past, the threats were usually external: the English at least had a solid sense of who they were and believed in themselves. That has gone. This time the existential threat is internal, as the ruling class and its managerial class minions have become consumed with self-hatred. So it's hard to be optimistic. However, I agree that we must fight, whether we prevail or not. Better to go down witha sword in your hand like Harold's house-carls at Hastings than submit to euthanasia. By the way, I am an 'Oxbridge cunt' myself--Cambridge--and deeply deplore the decadence and grovelling of our universities and scholars (and I have been a professor myself). Not every scholar is a coward. My hope is that a kind of Restoration might be possible, such as happened in 1660, after the disaster of Cromwell's republican dictatorship. But we must fight back.
"never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. "
Funny you should mention Cromwell - I'm showing my ignorance here but I kind of like the guy. Tell me how wrong I am.
Cromwell was not merely a dictator, but a ruthless and cruel one, especially in Ireland, where he carried out massacres--e.g. at Drogheda, where the entire population was murdered. In addition he was a Puritan who prohibited any kind of pleasurable activity (such as the theatre, or dancing on May-Day); and a vandal. He and his men destroyed priceless treasures in our churches and cathedrals--statues, paintings, and stained glass--which they regarded as 'idolatry'. An extremely unpleasant, narrow-minded character, though admittedly probably brighter than Charles I, who was hopeless.
"great men are almost always bad men" - Lord Acton
You need a great man who isn't bad.
That's hard to find.
I'm available, but I'm not great. And I'm not a man.
It doesn't have to be a man: we've had a couple of great queens. And Acton was right: the great are often bad, or at the very least highly flawed. I think our last great leader was Churchill, who certainly wasn't perfect, but was at least well-intentioned. I'm not sure a single great figure is the answer, though. They often are psychopaths and narcissists, like Alexander or Napoleon. What you really want is a great age, where a lot of brilliant figures coalesce and cohere, as in fifth-century Athens or fifteenth century Florence. Or even Regency London. No signs of that at present, though, unfortunately.
Or late 18th Century America?
😉
We’re rooting for you! “Nations that went down fighting rose again, but those who surrendered tamely were finished.” -Churchill
If only we had a Churchill now! And more of the bulldog spirit! Let's hope we find it again.
Yes, and teach the rest of us!
A new Restoration! That's a good way of looking at it. .
At least conceivable, I think. This is what Ayaan Hirsi Ali is getting at in her blog, Restoration.
We have had that character in the past, I think, pride, patriotism, grit, determination and all that, a love of freedom, but I don't think we have it any more. When everyone meekly locked down at home and let the government tell them who they could and couldn't touch even in their own homes ! I could not believe my eyes. And the way these weekly huge antisemitic demonstrations have been tolerated. It's beyond belief. But, one must hope the worm is finally turning.
Elizabeth Nickson wrote an (IMO) epic piece here in substack maybe a month ago which, to paraphrase, boils down to woe be unto he who provokes the Saxon as they are bred to fight. It was in response to those oh so civilized See You Next Tuesdays (even the ones with penises) lamenting the thugs and hooligans who took offense at the wanton murders of little girls.
I’ll take a look at it but I have my doubts.
What is a See You Next Tuesday?
An acronym of sorts see (C) you (U) next (N) Tuesday (T).
Looks like this article? Thanks, I’ll check it out.
https://open.substack.com/pub/elizabethnickson/p/when-the-saxons-begin-to-fight?r=qarhf&utm_medium=ios
That is it. Thanks for posting the link.
I second every word as an erstwhile anglophile who spent 3 fabulous years in the city formerly known as London
It never ends. Every day there's a new horror story.
And now known as Londonistan
I lived in England, but outside London. I love that country and its people. I go back whenever I can. That is the real Britain. London is lost. I pray the British people will find their strength. But they are fighting a globalist government and its institutions that don’t really care about the country. And they have none of the Constitutional protects we have.
You could do with a 1st Amendment as well. Forget what Starmer’s response to Vance’s speech in Munich. You have no true freedom of speech if the government can jail or fine you for expressing an opinion.
You can't have amendments to a constitution that doesn't exist.
America had the advantage of starting from scratch when we broke away from England. UK does have a constitution but it’s uncodified. Revolution versus evolution.
Correct.
I suggest you dissolve the UK (the "United Kingdom") ditch the Royals, and found a Republic of England.
Won't happen? Probably not. But that's what I think it will take.
It’s not in our nature to just, “Die already”, Diana. We are the nation that created tolerance and Human Rights. It’s complicated but we are also the nation that held out against all odds for years against Hitler, being bombed night annd day without provocation, until America finally realised it was itself in danger if it didn’t help us. The Russians were going to and it made America look bad. Besides the Japanese attacked America at Pearl Harbour and we all needed to help each other.
We’re back again, facing great evil. An insidious evil that has been creeping into many other nations and destroying them is knocking at our door. We again need to stick together to defend ourselves. Wars are never won by being squeamish about the individuals. We have to steel ourselves to the task ahead. Europe last faced it head on at the Battle of the Mohaks (Hungary) in 1485. The enemy was at the door and the Muslims were beaten back, saving Europe. You don’t hear about it much now because it’s not fashionable.
Today we still need Middle Eastern oil so we tread carefully. We now have a cruel, authoritarian, Far Left government in the U.K., whose leader loves Muslims, so we have to be very careful what we say but don’t think for one moment because this old lion is asleep that he’s dead. Just wait.
And next time you come to Britain don’t go to cruddy places like the East End of London. It was always horrible. I know. I once lived there. Go to Devon and Dorset, or Gloucester, or Norfolk. Go to the Lake District, or the Cotswolds, or York, or Lincoln, or Salisbury. Anywhere, ANYWHERE but the dregs of the Earth, the East End of London. If you’re miserable, you asked for it by going there. Keep your beached whale. That’s not how Brits think.
Didn’t the British also invent political satire?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal
Not really. Thank you for the link (very enjoyable) but, although the Anglo-Irish Johnathan Swift would no doubt have been delighted for you to think so, that honour goes to the Greeks and later was embraced by the Romans (Tertullian et al).
Well said. As an Englishman now living abroad I cannot fathom what has happened to my country since I left 40 years ago. My home town up north in now half Muslim. The last time I went I actually saw women walking around in full black burkhas.
I'm almost as sickened as you are. This was satire & I do have a kernel of hope left.
PS I might write one about the US as well.
The U.S. is inaugurating its last hope on January 20th. We still have a chance!
The British government has sold England out. They are traitors.
As an Australian, I have always been proud of my partly British heritage; my beautiful language, literature, art, music, and manners.
We learned a song as children. “Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves, Britons never never never shall be slaves.”
I pray the English reclaim the courage and conviction that made them so powerful in world history.
Dear Diana,
Thank you for your letter and I am touched by your concern. I am England. It is true that I am being mismanaged and things are turbulent, and have been for several years. However, fairness and justice runs through my rivers. I am strong and to all those who care about me, I will rise from the ashes to be stronger and fairer than ever.
God bless,
England
I wish you the best.
When I visited, I was mainly in London but I took a day trip to Cambridge, where I saw the American military cemetery. As the daughter of a WW2 vet I found it inexpressibly moving. I wept.
I wrote the post out of anguish.
I truly hope you're right.
But some things are going to have to change on a fundamental level.
You have no legally enshrined freedom of speech.
That has got to change.
Freedom of speech is a very dangerous thing - but ultimately, it's an essential part of a free society.
And as for the rapid Islamization of Britain - I have no words..
The Cambridge American Cemetery:
https://www.abmc.gov/Cambridge
I used to think freedom of speech was the most important right we Americans have in our Bill of Rights. Now I’m sure I was wrong; the right to keep and bear arms is the most importantly fundamental right, if only because it ensures the protection of all the other fundamental rights our Creator, not the constitution, the bill of rights, nor the government, has actually given us.
Nothing wrong with the letter. It encapsulates how so many of us feel. We have lost our way and it is worse than you can imagine. But I truly hope we will recover. It will not happen overnight and will take a lot of effort, but I have to hope we will get there. It helps that those outside can feel our pain. Whilst it is an embarrassment, it can also make us feel strong. Thank you x
It's not a lot better in the US but the US has some institutional mechanisms to fight back - our Constitution and its Bill of Rights.
The situation in UK reminds me a lot of NYC where I live. It's a behavioral sinkhole run by a Democrat machine and it won't get better by human agency. It's got to go through a period of decay and renewal. But NYC is just a city. I'm not sure this works with countries.
In any case when you want to make changes as a country you have to be as clear-eyed & tough on yourself as if you're changing your diet or habits to regain health. No excuses.
Everything in the US, and I mean everything, is riding on the Supreme Court. Which will be drastically altered by the urbanites (that's what progressives are) if they are elected. Harris is already talking about 20 years out and those are not her ideas.
I think that the states are ignored. State legislatures and governors have a lot of power. But that's doing things the hard way.
I think that there has been a push for dominance of a strong, centralized federal government post Civil Wary, initially at the behest of northern industrialist (many of whom were very complicit in slavery) and it has lead to what we now face - a massively, bloated bureaucracy that is too unwieldy too manage and that thinks you and I belong to it rather than the other way around. But the SC is clapping back some, finally. Although Dobbs was not about states rights per se, the result was the return of abortion to the states and is a very telling victory for the power of the states. And FWIW there is nothing that prevents a federal abortion law except 1) that "Americans agree on abortion" thing is a myth, (people may favor abortion in some circumstances but there is no agreement on those circumstances) and 2) a very feckless Congress.
Actually from the start. I'm reading a book about the Revolution called Founding Partisans which is about exactly this. It's always been a war.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/112975661-founding-partisans
Try The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley (Flags of Our Fathers and Fly Boys) about the Theodore Roosevelt era and it's role in what became WWII. It makes my blood boil. It is both well-written and well-cited.
You’ve described it perfectly. It’s ironic really because when I’m out walking my dogs, people stop and talk to me about how rubbish the UK is and these are foreigners! They say they came here because of the way it used to be. Even they are leaving!
When a country falls to Islam, it is permanent. There are no "formerly Islamic" countries in modern times. We don't talk about this nearly enough.
Yes, it is possible for a new country to be born later! We experienced this after the end of the Ottoman Empire. But the original country ceases to exist, always.
Spain took it back, but it was a bloody, centuries-long process, and they had to be very brutal in the process.
"The court heard that in a number of reports from psychiatrists they concluded that Hussain had been suffering from a schizoaffective disorder and psychosis for a number of years and there was evidence of 'paranoid delusional belief around religion'."
Can't you say this about every Jew-hating Muslim?
England brought this upon themselves by joining the European Union and its woke policies. Too bad. It was once a lovely country.
Under the rage is deep grief.
I despair for my Country. We have a government that hates us and keeps our borders open.
We are being replaced and there's nothing we can do.
You're half-right - we are being replaced but we can do a lot...
Vote Reform UK if you can. It doesn't matter if you agree with anything else they say, the mere preservation of existence as a nation-state is sufficiently important a reason to vote for them.
We need a Reform AU where I live.
Great stack. Well written. Expresses what we all think and then some.
Thank you. I might do the same about Australia.