This is another of my long posts. I realise they are too long for most people to read, but I think to myself: "Well, maybe one or two people will, and maybe they will be able to provide me with some useful feedback ? Because in the longer posts I write and send to JPP, what I am mostly trying to do is get my own thoughts on a particular political issue/s issue I find very complex and very important @down on paper." Having to write down your thoughts in coherent sentences that others will be able to understand - because you have followed the standard rules/conventions of English grammar and syntax - is a discipline. Untangling the many and often complex factors in a messy political question like: "What should Donald Trump do? Right now, he has to to somehow wisely balance the (potentially deadly) risks to the American public posed by COVID-19 if most people are allowed to return to work AGAINST serious harms that could be inflicted on the public if they they do not go back to work, the economy crashes and there is a severe economic recession ?" Forcing yourself to write down your own thoughts on the question is difficult, but helpful in that it forces you to concentrate, draw on your higher rational cognitive functions, and bring them to bear on the problem
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BACKGROUND
I am a great fan of the old wartime, black-and-white B- Movies that featured the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Eleven of them were made in America by Universal Pictures between 1942 and 1946 and starred Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson, his good-hearted (but not too bright) companion. The original "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes stories" were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late Victorian era.
During the Second World War, a number Universal's Sherlock Holmes films were shot in the setting of wartime London, for example "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" (1942) and "Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" (1943). In these films, Holmes, the great detective, is retooled as the ultimate counter-intelligence agent who masterfully foils the the plots of Nazi infiltrators and Fifth Columnists. Apart from their value as entertainment, these movies conveyed key British propaganda themes. One was that Britain was involved in a "Peoples War", and key scenes show ordinary members of the British public keen to assist Sherlock Holmes in his efforts to defeat the enemy; indeed, we come to realise that without the contributions of the ordinary Londoner, Holmes would not have prevailed. During the years of the Second World war, English society's notorious class structure was still very much in place: there was the Upper Class, the Middle Class and the Working Class, and these three social groups did not interact. The English class structure was not as rigid as it had been in, say, the later half of the 19th century. Sherlock Holmes symbolised a member of the elite, upper class of English society, but in "Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror" we see him collaborating with London Cockneys (working - class Londoners); all class-related stigma and resentment evaporates, and we note a mutual respect as they work together on the all- important task of foiling the Nazis. The message from the British government was clear, these are desperate times, we must foster a strong ethos of genuine solidarity in the face of this deadly threat to our home. A second critical propaganda theme the wartime Holmes films were intended to convey was the need for constant vigilance against the danger posed by Nazi agents and Fifth Columnists; the public , of course, knew Holmes chiefly as a great detective who solved his crimes by using his razor - sharp powers of observation.The public were also being encouraged to buy war bonds. For example, at the end of one particular Holmes vs the Nazis (I forget which one it was) movie, Holmes and Watson are seen sitting next to each other in a horse-drawn buggy that is travelling down a lane. The camera then zooms in to focus the head and shoulders of the two men. After a few seconds of silence, Watson coughs to clear his throat and says to Holmes: "Damn close thing that, Holmes, but we got the blighter." Holmes, in an intensely sombre tone of voice replies: "Yes, but there'll be more like him, Watson, and we must never let down our guard. We must never let it down, and we will always fight to defend it. For we shall never surrender it - this Island, this Fortress...this England !! Watson then stares ahead with misty "middle-distancing" eyes and mumbles softly:" Well said, Holmes; well said, old man."
So, the messages from the British government in these old wartime movies were that we ,( Englishmen) must come together as one to fight the deadly enemy who would destroy us. We must ALL support each other and work together - (through what will be a very trying time) - to defeat Hitler. United we are strong, divided we are weak. We must also put our faith in our Leader (Winston Churchill/Sherlock Holmes) and give him our support; and we must never lose hope - we must never surrender. These are still (today) some of the most pronounced characteristics of the White English psyche. Whenever in their history, they have faced a "life or death" threat to their nation, they come together to promote an ethos of camaraderie, encouraging each other to keep their spirits high. They do not do this with any Hollywood -type histrionics; it is more about the small gesture: the smile, friendly chat, the understated act of kindness or offer of charity; making sure that an elderly neighbour who lives on her own is OK, by touching base with her during the week.The native White English are a very STOIC people - something not many foreigners understand - there is real "iron in the soul" of the true Englishman/woman. Many, today see the native English as an effete bunch of tea-sipping weaklings and whingers. If that's what you believe, then you have completely misinterpreted them.
I think, that the stoicism of the White English psyche is a psychological trait that has evolved as a result of England's unusually violent and tempestuous history, and the fact that England is a small island separated from Continental Europe, Africa, and other lands by a natural border of sea/ocean ( NB: I know that England itself is not an island, but is located on an island along with other countries like Scotland, and Wales. The thing is that I see the English character and its culture as being so distinctive and historically potent that I have fallen into the habit of referring to the "island of England.)" Throughout much of its history England and Englishmen have been involved in countless large-scale battles and wars. The medieval conflicts such as the Norman Invasion, the Battle of Hastings in 1066; Richard the Lionheart's English Crusaders who fought the Muslim forces on the continent. (And) also, wars like The War of the Roses, the English Civil War, The Battle of Agincourt, The Hundred Years War, The Anglo-Scottish Wars WERE EXEPTIONALLY BRUTAL AND BLOODY AFFAIRS To have your life as a soldier in the 21st century ended by being shot through the head with a round fired from a powerful assault rifle is one thing; but to be hacked to death by a sabre or battle - axe, bludgeoned to death with a mace, or stabbed to death with a pike, is another thing altogether.
As well as military wars, England has, since the era of the Anglo-Saxons, to Brexit in 2016 been subjected almost continuously to social, cultural and economic upheavals or turmoil and political revolutions/dramas of one kind or another. Here are a few examples: The signing of "The Magna Carta" by King John in 1215 near Windsor, would change the Western World forever; The American Constitution/Bill of Rights and the US Declaration of Independence would never have come to exist were it not for the "Magna Carter". That means that America, by which I mean the REAL America and not the socialist dog's breakfast of: multiculturalism; reverse racism (Affirmative Action) illegal immigration; massive Welfare State dependency; mandatory "politically correct" codes of expression; Globalism; Universities staffed by cultural Marxists and Postmodern academics, MUSLIMS sitting in CONGRESS (!!) (!!); the social discord and strife generated by the promotion of leftist Identity Politics. To continue, I mean the REAL America that was envisioned and then brought to life by the Founding Fathers after the Revolutionary War against the British Crown was won, would NEVER have existed (seriously). The Great Famine of 1315 - 1317 hit England's economy very hard and resulted in a cessation of population growth; The":Black Death" of 1346 wiped out half of England's population in short order,; the "Peasant Revolt" of 1387 shook England's feudal order and the reduced the amounts of Royal tax payable for the next 100 years; the events that gave rise to the English Civil War were chiefly to do with divisions in Protestant Church: on the one side were fundamentalist Puritans who were opposed, on the other side, by the Anglican Church whom the Puritans regarded as crypto- Catholic decadents. This argument between the two Protestant group reverberated throughout the entirety of English society: working-class,the gentry, city dwellers and country dwellers. So traumatic was the dispute that a frequent slogan of the times was "the world turned upside down.". In 1592 there was an outbreak of a particularly persistent stain of the "Bubonic Plague." In London, 100,000 odd people were killed by the Plague; and it goes without saying that the economic, cultural and social fall-out from this tragedy would have been profound and long-lasting. Another upheaval was the English Reformation, which is typically associated with King Henry VIII's declaration in 1536, that England has severed all ties with the Church of Rome ( BTW, if you are one of those Lefties who thinks that Donald Trump is a crude, narcissistic, bully and sexist tyrant, let me assure you that he has nothing on Henry VIII. Henry WAS a brutal, egocentric, psychopath with a ferocious temper. If you think Trump has no respect for women because he liked to "grab them by the pussy", then how would you like to have a Head of State who treated all of his SIX wives appalling:, divorcing two, beheading two, having one die shortly after childbirth for whom he showed zero concern, and a final one who was very lucky to survive by outliving him ??; the execution of the autocratic monarch, Charles I, saw England become a Republic under the leadership Oliver Cromwell, yet another tempestuous period of English history. Then in 1688 there was a political revolution in England, but it was a "bloodless revolution" and it was/is called the "Glorious Revolution" In the "Glorious Revolution", Catholic King James II was overthrown and replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William of Orange. The political and social significance of the "Glorious Revolution" was far-reaching. This stems from the fact that Parliament was now established as the ruling power in England. In other words, England shifted from rule under the political principles of absolute monarchy to those of Constitutional Monarchy. I must conclude this list of examples now (because there are literally hundreds that I could cite, so I'll do that with the English Industrial Revolution which began around 1760 and by the time Queen Victoria ascended to the throne (1837) had already begun to radically, extremely and extensively transform EVERY aspect of English society, culture, economics, and politics. One final modern - era example of tempestuous change and upheaval in English society was the election, in 1979, of the ultra Right-wing, Conservative politician, Margaret Thatcher, who would go to form a very close relationship - both personal and political - with American President Ronald Reagan - ("Ronny") - whom she greatly admired.
Lest she be mistaken for a weak, insipid female in the very aggressive, male-dominated world that British politics was 40 years ago, Thatcher famously dubbed herself: "The Iron Lady of Europe", and that was an absolutely perfect sobriquet. She quickly ushered in a radical, new Conservative, political/economic order - that came to be known as Thatcherism. Under the new dispensation, life changed - one way or the other - for every English citizen. Some worshipped her, others despised her; she was an extremely DIVISIVE English leader. The mere mention of her name can still provoke very passionate responses from the English to this day (seriously)
TO BE CONTINUED SHORTLY