tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701792.post8224421526790475113..comments2023-12-02T00:59:10.380+01:00Comments on England Expects: Book Review: "A Nation of Immigrants?"Gawain Towlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08583658895528269901noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701792.post-34431056285193024782007-06-04T10:11:00.000+02:002007-06-04T10:11:00.000+02:00I take issue with your definition of the American ...I take issue with your definition of the American revolutionary position. If anything it was about the colonists wanting the same rights as there Englsih relatives. <BR/>It was not created in opposition, far from it, yes they lopped the top of the tree off (in the case of the monarchy) but they put in place a presidential system that replicated much of the monarchic culture.<BR/>From my reading of the federalist papers etc, it would appear ifthey were taking the English system and improving upion it. In many ways it was not radical at all.<BR/>The French - not doubt to their chagrin - are mostly Germans.Gawain Towlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08583658895528269901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701792.post-28052874232038230942007-06-03T18:38:00.000+02:002007-06-03T18:38:00.000+02:00Revolutionary Americans defined themselves as a re...Revolutionary Americans defined themselves as a reaction to British culture. The whole point of Liberty was to boot out the British monarchy along with ancient concepts of the social duties inherent in property rights, so that they could carve their own lands from the New World, without owing anything to anyone.<BR/><BR/>The USA was a culture defining itself in opposition to its parent culture. I suppose Bryant and Conway would say that it nevertheless can be traced back to the ethnicity from which it was birthed. And unto them I would say, what about the French?The Aunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14529168814096715981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701792.post-12075418764987173752007-05-31T09:19:00.000+02:002007-05-31T09:19:00.000+02:00The UK Government has chosen to deprive you of you...The UK Government has chosen to deprive you of your vote because under the previous system a large majority of expat votes went to the Conservatives. But you do have a point, I shall have to cut you next time we meet (tonight methinks)<BR/><BR/>Of course it is a question of culture, the Americans, lucky people that they were, on the whole inherited British culture, and added some republican/democratic theory. However how does a culture arise? More often than not throughthe melding of ethnicity and society to create a vigerous and resilient whole. To pretend otherwise is madness. Do tell me a succesful culture that has not, at its root an ethnic base. <BR/>That is the point made by Bryant and Conway in the book.Gawain Towlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08583658895528269901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701792.post-58922537871402078082007-05-30T19:39:00.000+02:002007-05-30T19:39:00.000+02:00Oh. My. God. Not only am I Hugenot, French, Swiss ...Oh. My. God. Not only am I Hugenot, French, Swiss and Mexican, it also turns out my ultimate ancestors, upon whom I was relying for my ethnic credibility, may have immigrated from the Iberian peninsula. No wonder the UK government has chosen to deprive me of my vote. I'm a bloody foreigner.<BR/><BR/>Nationhood is a question of culture, not a genetic bond. I'll give credit where it's due, the Americans understand that, and have forged a strong super-culture to bind their fairly diverse mix of subcultures together. Fairly successfully, I'd say.<BR/><BR/>verification word m"brit"uhy. How odd.The Aunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14529168814096715981noreply@blogger.com