From New
Zealand thru Scotland to South-East London
Dr Johnson once argued that patriotism was the last refuge of a scoundrel, and we march into tricky territory immediately, because meanings of words subtly change. In his address of 1774, entitled "The Patriot", Johnson stated:
"It
is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe
all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance.
The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and
to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief.
But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy; he never terrifies
his countrymen till he is terrified himself. The patriotism,
therefore, may be justly doubted of him, who professes to be
disturbed by incredibilities; who tells, that the last peace was
obtained by bribing the princess of Wales; that the king is grasping
at arbitrary power; and, that because the French, in the new
conquests, enjoy their own laws, there is a design at court of
abolishing, in England, the trial by juries."
Well, let
us start by means of example: I am a New Zealander. Am I a New
Zealand patriot? If anyone asked me this, I would be inclined to you
'Do you mind? Such a question is beneath my dignity.' I would
automatically ask myself whether such a person was a scoundrel, who
wanted to pursue some activity I did not approve of, and wanted to
accuse me of lack of patriotism if I opposed or expressed
disagreement with it. But if I were asked if I were "jealous and
watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick
dangers at a distance" Well, I am a tad lazy, but I would say I
am 'jealous and watchful' not of enemies, but the NZ government
itself, which would often happily sell the family silver (i.e.
privatize it) to overseas interests. But I wonder if this is the
modern sense of patriotism: I would rather say loyalty, but I would
certainly accuse any government that sold the family silver to
overseas interests of being unpatriotic.
Any NZ
government that allowed Mr Ruipert Murdoch to buy NZ Newspapers -
even a certain weekly paper called 'Truth' - would certainly count as
unpatriotic in my eyes. In fact any politician of any country that
puts the interest of a wealthy international élite before the
soundness of his/er country's economy is certainly unpatriotic.
But I
also have Scots blood in me. Loyalty is a tricky word, since I don't
live there, I live in England, in London in fact, though I regard
myself as living in Britain not England, and see London as the
capital of Britain. When you include the 60k kiwis, quarter of a
million Australians, Scots, Irish and Welsh, London is surely the
capital of Britain for most Londoners.
So
loyalty to Scotland is a tricky word. Loyalty does not require you
to be either pro- or anti-independence. But I am still enraged at
some of the silly things that some of the English say about Scotland.
Am I jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations
[against Scotland], and to see publick dangers at a distance?
Absolutely! Am I one who is ready to communicate his fears, and to
sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief.
Again absolutely, not least the March of the Mars Bars in Batter,
sadly so dear to many a Scottish heart. And what about Nationalists:
I have every loyalty to the idea that if independence is the right
thing, the SNP (Scottish National Party) will be right for the wrong
reasons.
But why
do I not take the next step? After living briefly living in Scotland,
I came to South-East London. Am I a Londoner? I do live in London.
But my loyalty is really to South-East London. Would I follow the
behest of Mr Norman Tebbit and cheer for a North London team? Where's
that? Anything north of Waterloo Bridge does not exist. And do
Bromley and Bexley belong to South-East London? Of course they do,
and if they don't, we should jolly well take them over, after all we
could do with their council taxes.
* * * *
* * * * * *
But
normally the British don’t do nationalism: neither the English nor
other British nations would associate themselves with this term.
Probably those who says that the term is to be reserved for
foreigners (at least non-English) are in fact nationalists, though I
think the Conservatives see themselves see themselves as loyalists
rather than nationalists. And perhaps it’s Gordon Brown rather
than the Tories who would talk about patriotism.
In fact
there was a clearly Europhile Belgian correspondent who described the
Tories as the nationalists par excellence. Not at all, they were
merely Eurosceptic, and of course’ jealous and watchful, to observe
all secret machinations [against Britain], and to see publick dangers
at a distance”. And this brings us to one of the most insidious
phrases: a ‘Good European’. To my mind being a Good European is
the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Martin
Prior
Philosophy Takeaway Newsletter 55
