1. English common law (bottom-up as against top-down).
2. A long history of stable democracy and secure borders, free of foreign occupation or conquest.
3. A preference for pragmatic empiricism and inductive reasoning, and a deep distrust of Big Ideas.
4. A unique place in the wider world, the legacy of a long maritime history and a relatively benign, uniquely wide-ranging empire.
5. A national character in which modesty, decency, emotional restraint, fair play and a sense of humour are (or were) prominent features.
6. A natural understanding of, and talent for, popular music. The English equivalent of today's lavish obsequies for Johnny Hallyday would be a state funeral for Shakin' Stevens.
Sums it up beautifully. You've persuaded me.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like no 3. A human being is essentially an experiencing machine that rationalises those experiences post hoc or after the event. If you accept this it diminishes slightly the status of reason (and science). It is the status that the French give to Reason (since the Revolution) that leads them to commit idiocies such as arresting women with burkahs on the beach.
ReplyDeleteNot at all sure about no. 6 - most of that popular music which you are referring to originated in the USA (even before 1945) and found its way to the UK and was adopted and adapted here partly due to our close links with USA, partly due to a common language, in my view. There was, after all, popular music in European countries (think of French chanson and some of the pre-war greats) but it tended to be rather national in tone and barely influenced by the USA. We have produced some greats, but in large part they have drawn inspiration from our American cousins, surely?
ReplyDeletePS: I forgot to mention Pelagianism and our native Church...
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