In Mortal Peril

In Mortal Peril

Recently there has been much clamor over the Scottish Issue.  In The Guardian an article was published that shed some light on the feelings of Britons and the worry that Scottish Independence would be the final death blow to a unified Great Britain.  The author, David Mitchell, is the son of a Welsh mother and a Scottish father.  He grew up in Swansea and Galloway and now lives in London.  Like many of the Queen’s Subjects in the United Kingdom, David Mitchell is British.

In 1914 Britons throughout the world knew all the verses of “Land of Hope and Glory” and “Rule Britannia,” they waved their Union Jacks at national holidays, and believed in the superiority of their empire.  Over the last 100 years British patriotism has gone from being a critical element of the British makeup to being an unfortunate byword that reminds Britons of colonialism, imperialism, world wars, nationalism, xenophobia, and genocide.  David Mitchell makes the argument that patriotism is healthy so long as it respects others right to be patriotic.  He compares patriotism to supporting a sports team and uses the Franco-British Rivalry as proof that the rivalry can be friendly.  For all of his patriotic platitudes however, he admits to a feeling of embarrassment over his patriotic sentiments.

He worries that an anti-patriotic Britain full of nationalistic movements will destroy his homeland and sees the Scottish Issue as the primary indicator of whether or not the United Kingdom will survive.  Interestingly David Mitchell owns that the Scotts have a right to decide their fate without the interference from other Britons.  He readily agrees that the Scottish Independence Movement has as much validity as his own desire to maintain his ancient state.   David Mitchell is a victim of equality by default and moral relativism.  What is treason if not plotting the destruction of an existing state?  What nobility can be ascribed to treason?  One shudders to think what Sir Winston Churchill, the Duke of Wellington, Cecil Rhodes, Lawrence of Arabia, Chinese Gordon, or Rudyard Kipling would have made of the situation.  These are not English heroes—they are British heroes.  Their fight was not for England and St. George but for a unified Albion.  To their ears the notion of Scottish Independence would have been blatantly evil and yet David Mitchell can dismiss it as natural and just though contrary to his personal convictions.  Furthermore, he is embarrassed by his convictions as he has been led to believe that patriotism is akin to xenophobia.

Is this to be the fate of modern nations?  Will we one day face a problem where Hawaii, the Confederate States, and the California Republic seek to break away?  If they were to attempt such a thing would there be moral ground for government objection?  This is the threat to sovereignty posed by moral the government? Clearly it is the business of all Britons if their country is to be taken from them and yet the only group who gets a voice is an 8.4% minority of the British population.  This is the trend and sick irony behind tyranny of the masses.  Men are perhaps more like sheep than ever before.  The manipulation of media by a vocal minority easily sways opinion, concepts of morality and rights, and concepts of acceptable behavior.  If the Scotts secede it will be yet another example of a minority population imposing their will on the majority by forcing the majority to adopt their beliefs through the sword of the media.  The decline of traditional morality and the understanding of virtues once so critical to society play a huge role in Scottish secession and a similar drama plays out in the U.S. via marriage equality.  Will our era of democracy end in the strangling clutches of tyranny by an ignorant body led by minorities who control our media, who can say, but obvious indicators will be visible through the unfolding Scottish Issue.