British Attitudes

Anyone looking at the current scene in Britain will speedily come to the conclusion that the British have lost their nerve.  Gone is the self-confidence of the Victorian era and the era that came to an end at the close of the second World War.  We have gradually lost our self assurance and confidence.  Generations of school children have been taught directly or obliquely that our history and our culture is full of shameful episodes and we have no reason to be proud of our achievements.  I know this is true because I was for many years a purveyor of this denigrating attitude. Most teachers I mixed with would rather be labelled a crook than a patriot.  Instead of extolling the incredible achievements of the Industrial Revolution and the amazing inventiveness of the likes of Stephenson and Telford, the emphasis has been on the horrors of child labour and the cruelty of the capitalist system.  The British Empire has hardly been mentioned at all, and if it was, little was said of its positive input into so many nations, the main emphasis being on the aggressive and racially-motivated greed of the colonialists.  Yet, as a recent historian has written,  the British Empire, though no charitable organisation, was as empires go, the most benign and pacific that the world had ever seen. (See Niall Ferguson, The British Empire).  As result we have a generation that lives in a sort of cultural vacuum.  They are not sure what our culture really is and whether it is worth-while defending it.  Those with an old-fashioned liberal education are often amazed how little even intelligent young people know about their history and culture.  So when another self-confident culture asserts its claims most British people are so riddled with feelings of insecurity and even racial guilt that they meekly give way.
As an illustration I should like to mention what happened in 2007.  At the passing out parade of cadets at Hendon, presided over by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, a Muslim lady cadet refused to shake hands with the commissioner or even join in the group photo.  Sir Ian was furious.  This act of defiance against long-standing cultural norms was obviously not the brain-child of the cadet.  Very few cadets would be brave enough to make such a challenge.  She had obviously been coached by other Muslims.  They guessed and guessed rightly that when push came to shove the Police would cave in rather than be accused of racial and religious insensitivities.  The cadet was accepted and was sent to West London, where she would not offend any of her co-religionists.
It is into this dangerous social and spiritual vacuum that Islam is spreading.  They see a culture that is ripe for exploitation.  Push wisely and hard and the indigenous population will give way.  
The most amazing sights that I have seen recently are the demonstrations by the British Defence League against the Islamisation of Britain and counter demonstrations of the Muslims.  These counter demonstrations are invariably supported by left-wing activists.  Don't these left-wingers realise that if Islamism ever came to power in this nation the first group to be crushed would be these same left-wingers?


In case anyone thinks that I am against Muslims in general I would like to say that this is not true.  I have Muslim friends and I consider the majority to be hard-working and peaceful folk who are proud to have been born into this country.