tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post5345118633294153595..comments2024-03-28T07:16:39.621+00:00Comments on Lallands Peat Worrier: American lessons for Scotland...Lallands Peat Worrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18276270498204697708noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-79463423884351936922012-10-19T01:33:33.077+01:002012-10-19T01:33:33.077+01:00Vronsky,
"My wife (who is American, funnily ...<b>Vronsky,</b><br /><br /><i>"My wife (who is American, funnily enough) tells me that the first thing she thought was attractive about me was the automatic way I pulled the sporting section out of the newspaper and chucked it in the bin, unread."</i><br /><br />I'm a past master at this economical disposal. I had no idea it was a potentially alluring gesture. When next I refuse to be detained by the inevitable sporting supplement, I'll have to keep an eye out for comely observers!Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-65803046796874601982012-10-18T19:35:35.842+01:002012-10-18T19:35:35.842+01:00Whoever wins the debate and the election, the oil ...Whoever wins the debate and the election, the oil and armaments boardrooms will stay in charge. It's just America's Next Top Model and whoever wins or loses, the Fashion Business will survive. <br /><br />My wife (who is American, funnily enough) tells me that the first thing she thought was attractive about me was the automatic way I pulled the sporting section out of the newspaper and chucked it in the bin, unread. So you can see I hate the media intention to project the prsidential election as just a game, just sport, just entertainment. The 'debates' might as well be compered by Tyrah Banks, for all the relevance they have to political outcomes. 'I hold in my hand two photos, but only one...'.Vronskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17797785918817375436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-31932837505764781992012-10-18T16:51:45.079+01:002012-10-18T16:51:45.079+01:00Autarkes,
A pessimistic assessment! Thanks for th...<b>Autarkes,</b><br /><br />A pessimistic assessment! Thanks for the observations from your unique position betwixt and between Scotland and the US. As I say, my rubbernecking in on the presidential race is in some respects discreditably ignorant. I've never set foot in the U.S. Accordingly, and my American pals are all sorts who've left the country, are hyper educated and (save for the odd exception) all Democratically inclined, with greater and less enthusiasm. I dare say many of the folk staying up to watch the bouts are similar, their encounter with America limited to a very small cosmopolitan slice of the country.<br /><br /><b>Craig Gallagher,</b><br /><br />High praise! I'm not sure what Mr Stewart would make of the comparison, mind you. You're studying over in Boston now yourself, aren't you? Like Autarkes, but the ambassadorship is the other way around!Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-43694382470346043942012-10-18T16:44:51.941+01:002012-10-18T16:44:51.941+01:00Clerical errer,
Ha! I'll have to remember tha...<b>Clerical errer,</b><br /><br />Ha! I'll have to remember that one.<br /><br /><b>J. R. Tomlin,</b><br /><br />An eminently fair point. As I noted in the piece, I always try to approach American politics gingerly. Unless you're alive to it, you can forget the slipperiness and the American referents of the discourse. <br /><br /><b>Countdown to November,</b><br /><br />I'm still optimistic we can try to encourage a different sort of conversation around the referendum. It is, after all, early days yet and we're all feeling our way among the dazzling range of policies and considerations we might talk about. An interesting point about the politics of postmodernity, and the idea that we are at least rhetorically, if not practically, in a "post-ideological" phase of our democracy and governance. It warrants a fuller discussion, that.Lallands Peat Worrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238432265194046726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-72870750892640531092012-10-18T03:55:24.348+01:002012-10-18T03:55:24.348+01:00LPW, you are like a more erudite and loquacious Jo...LPW, you are like a more erudite and loquacious Jon Stewart. I wholeheartedly agree with your condemnation of the American media, with it's pathetic obsession with clichés and horse races. Winning is a deeply ingrained cultural meme here, however, as is anti-intellectualism, and the media feel an instinctive need to reflect both. All in the name of ratings, of course.<br /><br />Just about anyone capable of looking beyond the headlines despairs at the paucity of candidates the American political sphere has produced lately. Since 2000, really only John McCain has been anything to shout about, including both Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, and he had the misfortune to be shackled to just about the worst candidate for executive office ever fomented in any civilised nation (well, at least since Iain Duncan Smith gave it a go).<br /><br />I'd love to soothe your soul with the reminder that the executive is the weakest of the three federal branches, and is probably more relevant in terms of foreign policy and representing the mood of the nation - in short, as a type of elected monarchy - if it wasn't for the fact that the legislature is the strongest and Congress lately has been even more lamentable than America's candidates for King. Er, President.Craig Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16651039747592264903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-16138545402150743462012-10-18T03:55:22.202+01:002012-10-18T03:55:22.202+01:00It behooves us to reflect soberly that the vacuity...It behooves us to reflect soberly that the vacuity of the American election is itself not just a trait of contemporary American politics, but a sign of where the polity as a whole is at. For Romney and Obama represent a convergence of ideologies, strange as it may seem, each bent on offering their own spin on what is the exact same thing.<br /><br />And that thing is the post-1945 order which still lives on in glorious splendor in the American mind. It matters little whether Obama stamps himself what might roughly be termed the 'statist' candidate, or whether Romney polishes his buttons as the 'business' candidate. Both industry and government have supported each other for well over 150 years. Both were integral to America taking advantage of the fact that, after VJ Day, there was no one else who could extract and manufacture like the U.S. -- everyone else was bombed, broke, or both.<br /><br />That paradigm has long passed, but the damaging imprint that social mobility, wealth, and the fear inherent to being king of the hill remains. Just as the War Between The States redefined the polity from a prescribed one to an activist one, so too must the American polity make a drastic change to move ahead.<br /><br />But, as Romney and Obama demonstrate, a wide choice of alternatives is not there. Those two don't even represent a binary choice. Both men are perfect candidates for the 1950s, when the well-oiled symbiosis, however sinister, of industry and state is working well and whatever tweaks they want to make -- be it national healthcare or tax cuts for millionaires -- won't really send things off the rails. But the money isn't there, nor the political capital, nor any true social discourse, nor (and most critically) time.<br /><br />I interned with the SNP in 2006 at the Scottish Parliament and, as an American, I found candor, humor, but above all a much stronger sense of community and relation, even amongst opposing politicians. However bad you think it might be, even with a trend toward 'horse-race' reporting, an essential fact remains:<br /><br />Scotland is about to step up in the world should the indyref pass; but if it does not, it is not the end of the world. For Scotland is a nation, and its nation-ness precedes its politics. There will always be a chance to try again. For us Americans, we have obliterated all knowledge of our past, our nation-ness in order to achieve the heights we have; now we stand on the brink, with nowhere to draw any direction except the corrupted ideological memes of the last five or six decades. Let Scots be thankful, whatever the indyref outcome, that they will still have a chance again one day because they are still themselves and have not sacrificed it on the altar of power and prestige, as my nation has.Autarkeshttp://autarkes.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-5115874197422180532012-10-17T23:14:22.332+01:002012-10-17T23:14:22.332+01:00As an American who closely follows UK (and especia...As an American who closely follows UK (and especially Scottish) poltics, let me say that this cannot be emphasized enough.<br /><br />Conservative and Liberal do not mean the same things on the opposite sides of the pond. Not. At. All.<br /><br />J. R. Tomlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01109874615059334200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-64691775004546787472012-10-17T21:38:41.135+01:002012-10-17T21:38:41.135+01:00You've definitely put forward a good point her...You've definitely put forward a good point here, which is that the lack of seriousness and overemphasis on campaign cliches has turned the Scottish referendum into a political farse rather than the serious debate it should be.<br /><br />But I suppose, does this beckon a simple question? Is the politics of insincerity not inevitable in a post-modern age when people are too apathetic to care about all the ideological intricacies of a given candidate, and better yet an entire election? After all, isn't the cost of learning anything about politics too high for most people who would rather focus on improving their quality of life? Is this not the essence of what post-modernism is?<br /><br />Now, that's not to say that I support the idea of a politically apathetic citizenry because I certainly don't, but I think it's only an inevitable consequence of our development.<br /><br />Still, how about the prospects of Scottish independence? Well, aside from the fact that any debate will no doubt be hampered by the realities of post-modern politics, independence might actually favor the unequivocally unionist Conservatives, for they will see a Labour bastion and drain on public funds disappear into thin air.<br /><br />I've written a nice little piece on my own blog detailing this very issue, and while unionism will always remain a partisan plank of the Tories, the apparent contradictions of their position on Scotland are clear.Countdown to Novemberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06392037198510169516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1638916042737526171.post-30153914871702071362012-10-17T20:53:45.471+01:002012-10-17T20:53:45.471+01:00Was it Alistair Cook who declared the election of ...Was it Alistair Cook who declared the election of Ronald Regan with the comment, "America has just elected the evil of two lessers."?clerical errernoreply@blogger.com