Yesterday I wrote a short article called The real England speaks in which I described a spontaneous expression of transatlantic solidarity. Much to my surprise, I clearly touched a raw nerve and the response was thunderous (see the comments section of the article to see what I mean).
As anyone who has read this blog for more than a few weeks will have surmised, samizdata.net is not just an overtly libertarian group of writers, but represents what can only be described as libertarianism’s ‘hawk’ wing… a sort of anti-anti-war.com. But I was not writing to encourage hawkish memes (well, not that time). In truth, when I wrote my article yesterday, I was not so much extending the sympathy of Britain to our confreres in the United States, at least not as the main thrust of the article, but rather highlighting the existence of a trans-national Anglosphere civil society of sorts that transcends the confines of states and governments.
That does not mean I think the remarkable outpouring of responses was ‘wrong’, far from it… just that it was not my objective and certainly not what I was expecting. Yet the response goes quite some way to confirm the contention of my article that there is indeed an ‘Anglosphere’ civil society and not just the distinct English speaking civil societies around the world, connected by sentiments far deeper than mere politics or state.
Or was that just the Kings Road, Chelsea? There is a VAST under-current of anti-Americanism in Britain which it would be foolish to ignore. Most British people have no idea that the UK received more Marshall Aid than any other country; let alone that it was squandered on consumption; rather than investment.
I fear that bloggers’ Anglosphere rhetoric may be more fantasy than fact.
Great minds run in the same channels: I have believed for many years that there is what you refer to as an Anglosphere. My thought is that it reflects common ideas, ideals, perspective, taste, and manners. If that is indeed what you mean by Anglosphere, it does exist and can be found among the most surprising people. By the way, what’s a blog?
Paul: So where exactly is this vast undercurrent of anti-Americanism that the Guardian and ‘Independent’ would have us believe exists? Of course I realise there are people who dislike America in Britain… hell, there are people who dislike America in America (and many of whom seem to write for the New York Times), but so what? It is clear to me that affinity for the US runs far deeper than affinity for, say, Europe… and not just in Chelsea.
Many fellow Brits e-mailed me to say such signs were seen in other high streets across the UK. The Anglosphere is not a myth and the way I see it is the anti-Americans who are actually the fantasist fringe, not the pro-Anglosphere bloggers.
Jean: A blog is what you are reading right now (i.e. Samizdata.net/blog). Blog is short for ‘weblog’ and sites such as Instapundit, Daily Dish, NRO Corner and us are all blogs.