Britain’s Ominous Smiley-Face Election

http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4397

Britain’s Ominous Smiley-Face Election

From the desk of A. Millar on Mon, 2010-04-19 08:25

With a general election set for May 6, the two main parties have, as Peter Goodspeed notes in Canada’s National Post, busied themselves “adopting U.S. policies, personnel and practices.” The British press, too, is full of talk about “presidential-style” TV debates and “first lady politics”. The Americanizing of the British election becomes even more evident if one listens to Conservative party leader David Cameron, who routinely references president Barack Obama – as an apparent inspiration – and who has even, on a few occasions, cited John F. Kennedy as “a great American president.”

But despite the US-UK “special relationship,” the British, as well as other Europeans, misread American culture. They admire the US’s vitality, yet believe it to be entirely separated from its traditional, Constitutional values.

To the European mindset, free speech (which necessarily includes “hate speech”), gun ownership, etc., are the sort of unsophisticated convictions that the nation’s dynamism should be evolving away from.

This mindset is illustrated in how the EU  has been formed. Although  consciously modeled after the US, many national “independence” parties -– not to mention Soviet dissidents such as Vladimir Bukovksy -– believe the EU resembles something much closer to the USSR.

The US’s Constitution was designed to empower its citizens, and those values fuel America’s dynamism. In contrast, the EU’s constitution – pushed through despite “no” votes from member states – is meant to empower the EU state.

As Britain and other European nations find their sovereignty draining away to the European Union (EU), and facing the ideologies of Islamism and political multiculturalism, wouldn’t it be more fitting to reference a president like Ronald Regan, synonymous with the destruction of Communism?

Even though the Conservatives in the UK are often seen as the British equivalent of the US’s Republicans, they are no longer the party of Margaret Thatcher -- a leader of character and resolve, who considered Reagan to be one of her “closest political and dearest personal friends.”

Rather, like Labour, they are, if anything, to the Left of the US’s Democrats: Labour leader and Prime Minister Gordon Brown hired Obama strategist Joel Benenson more than a year ago. The “progressive” Conservatives have since hired Anita Dunn and Bill Knapp – both advisors to Democrats.

The experience of EU membership should consequently offer a warning:  The intentional and showy Americanization of politics in Europe is superficial, and rarely if ever embodies the adoption of American values.

Although a cursory look at the Conservative party’s manifesto might leave one believing that the party is on the right track, almost every policy seems to include wording that hints at its possible sliding in the opposite direction once inside government.

Take, for example, “Big Government”. Cameron claims to oppose it -- not because he necessarily believes in individual liberty, but because, under Labour,  Big Government has grown to a point where it is “inhibiting, not advancing the progressive aims of reducing poverty, fighting inequality, and increasing general well-being.”

Instead, with Big Government having failed the “progressive” agenda, and also so discredited in the eyes of the public, the Conservatives arepromoting the rather Orwellian “Big Society” – which will require “strong and concerted government action to make it happen.”

As part of “Big Society,” the party plans a “national army of community organisers” who will be actively involved in local communities. Read: Intruding into private life -- or Big Government.

According to the Conservative party website, “This plan is directly based on the successful community organising movement established by Saul Alinsky,” a California-based  revolutionary, generally regarded as Marxist.

It is perhaps a minor detail, but it is amusing to see that the party has chosen to advertize the “Big Society” by use of a smiley face logo, reminiscent of the cover of Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism. In this bestseller, Goldberg contends that fascism is actually Left-wing, not Right-wing as reputed, and notes that, like modern liberalism, it always regarded itself as “progressive.”

Goldberg is an American Conservative, so perhaps we should not expect Cameron and his team to be familiar with his book. But the book’s cover image was inspired by comedian George Carlin’s comment that, “when fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jackboots. It will be Nike sneakers and smiley shirts.”