(Tony Blair is of course no longer in charge, contrary
to what this dated entry suggests, but its content makes a point that reaches
beyond the life and times of Tony Blair, or Gordon Brown, or anyone who may be
next, walking in their footsteps. In fact, this entry raises an interesting general
thesis, which is well worth exploring much further. Perhaps, the ‘gene’
pertains to the rationale of any colonial power to justify its colonization of
other people by a superior morality and a higher level of civilization (tell it
to the Romans colonizing the Greeks!!) which it is contributing to the inferior
world? This missionary spirit, however, covers up an essentially selfish motive,
a pursuit, above all, of “my own happiness,” as Nietzsche suggests in
the cited passage below. How much it contributes to the development of a
genuine national self-righteousness is an interesting subject to explore as
well. But, on the other hand, England is known as the oldest free society in
history, dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215 {not to get myself
dragged into a pointless argument with historians, there have been several
examples of democratic government on record, dating back earlier than that, but
all of those were flurries that would later give way to non-democratic political
systems; England though has retained and consistently improved on its democratic
institutions, which certainly makes all the difference in the world, at least
in our context}, while the United States has, perhaps, justifiably claimed to
have taken over the hereditary mantle of enlightened political leadership from
her aging, physically well past her best years, mother.)
We
have heard so much about the inalienable ties between the Old Country, that is,
England, and the New World, as embodied in her most gifted child, the United
States (especially these days, when Tony Blair is so desperately trying to woo
Uncle Sam’s affection that he might well end up getting his homeland yet another
nickname, that of the Poodle Country), that whenever we are able to find
traces of evidence pointing to the existence of a genuine umbilical cord
between the two, we are well advised to pay attention.
Incidentally,
by soap opera logic, the two countries must indeed be closely related as it is
apparently normal for a son or daughter to sabotage mother’s business out of
revenge for certain iniquities suffered by them in early childhood. Thinking
about the crippling blow America delivered on her mother after WWII, when she
refused to extend credit to her, and as a result British imperial power
promptly collapsed, supplanted by the new global imperial power of the United
States, there could well have been a personal family grudge in this ruthless act
(besides the legitimate imperial drive of an emerging new superpower), to
justify its particular viciousness.
But
let bygones be bygones. What also points to the existence of mother-daughter
relationship, without having to psychoanalyze personal animosities, is the
strong family resemblance. (Let us dismiss right away the silly nonsense of
artificial resemblance via plastic surgery, also of soap operatic infamy!) When
there is a reliable testimony from a credible witness who knew the mother in
her prime, and the same testimony can now be given regarding the daughter in
hers, it seems that we can hardly be mistaken in claiming the family
connection. And here is our case in point. For the purpose of objectivity, let
us approach it with a wide open mind, and without making the very common
mistake of claiming our conclusion a priori.
There
are occasional passages in the history of human thought, when something
observed about something else a long time ago can be easily taken (mind you, I
do not say mistaken!) for our own day’s conventional wisdom, but as applied to
our current subject matter. What a difference one word makes! In the following
passage from Jenseits 228, if we change Nietzsche’s word English into
our word American, nobody would ever suspect that this passage has not
been written in the new millennium:
“Ultimately, they all want English morality to be proved
right¾ because this serves humanity best, or “the
general utility,” or “the happiness of the greatest number”¾ no, the happiness of England. With all their powers,
they want to prove to themselves that the striving for English happiness¾ I mean, for comfort and fashion (and, at best, a seat in
Parliament)¾ is at the same time also the right way to
virtue; indeed, that whatever virtue has existed in the world so far must have
consisted in such striving.”
There
is no doubt that a close family resemblance can be established here right away
between Nietzsche’s England and, say, Wilsonian (that is, Woodrow Wilson’s)
America. But is there a possibility that such ties still exist between the two
nations today, when the United States has been taken over by a manifestly foreign
neoconservative ideology? (Which ideology has not originated with George W.
Bush, nor gone down with him, as the current Obama Administration’s policies
clearly reveal).
That
is, if we are to give ourselves the greatest benefit of the doubt possible, as
to the actual nobility of our intentions, which, if we consider the intentions
of this nation’s handlers, may be light years from being the case. I cannot
even imagine that America’s neoconservative ideology has anything in common
with English morality, far from it. Yet, this uncanny parallel
suggests that there must be some truth to genetics; in other words, that in
spite of all irregularities, weird coincidences and such, the umbilical cord
must indeed exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment