the anglosphere

in thinking about it the purpose of this particular bit of right-wing imagined community is to differentiate it from other conservatisms: not catholic, not royalist, not 'national,' not fascist, not sentimental (but kind of being all those things thru the back door).

"we're just calm rational efficient managers, you know, not like those other people who want to stride the earth for crazy reasons! you could only object to our rule out of superstition, resentment or laziness"

the broad left seems like the 'far enemy' to this idea

there is something to be said for the united states pursuing 'the anglosphere' as one of many supranational communities through which to pursue its interests largely at the expense of the other countries within them

the uk right is incapable of seeing beyond ancient blood kinship and common language as the foundation for supranational affiliation

'the anglosphere' represents the affixing of the vestigial imperial project to the settler project and manifest destiny, the means by which the uk pursues the delusion of empire long past the historical juncture which rendered it a secondary power

the uk's interests are conflated with that of the united states, the historical trauma of having been superseded by the next superpower is elided; the crushing war debts, the final clipping of its wings at suez

the azores summit immediately preceding the second iraq war is illustrative -- three former colonial powers offered symbolic fealty to the united states, even as rumsfeld made clear that it could win the war by itself and that the uk was merely lending its second rate military hardware for decorative purposes

what did scooter libby say at one point, "the brits are a high maintenance ally" or some such?

there was some anxious murmuring on the british right when obama was elected, since his published views on the uk extended to describing his grandfather's experiences as a menial for a british officer during the second world war and then a detainee during the mau mau rebellion during which thousands of people were tortured, castrated, executed and so forth

that period of late colonial pretention encompassing the particularly unpleasant malayan emergency and various minor skirmishes is very seldom mentioned by the empire queens but it provided an initial template for the vietnam counterinsurgency

harold wilson's terribly apologetic unwillingness for not joining in that folly being one of the few unalloyed british foreign policy successes of the postwar era, again seldom mentioned by the liberal internationalists who reflexively support american follies of this century

Those Kenyans that fought against Hitler without any wage other than sustenance and then got put into British gulags that were easily as murderous as Stalin's Kolyma camp, for having the temerity to expect a life in their own land. They can stick this fucking "freedom" up their arseholes.

As I've said in other contexts, one should never mistake being an anglophone for being an anglophile.

surprisingly good new statesman article about this

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/rise-anglosphere-how-right-dreamed-new-conservative-world-order

is there a good precis of what harper has been doing in canada

for some reason new zealand feels like a bit of a stretch compared to the other 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_of_Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Oceania

Though not well known in the Anglosphere, Ms Konstantopoulou is being touted among some Syriza members and MPs as a potential figurehead for opposition to the coming deal.

this is a v good thread and i’m bringing nothing to it other than

The Anglosphere does indeed exist... 🧻 https://t.co/8TKLN6YXdU

— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) March 8, 2020

love to see irish broken down (insert eu troika joke)

ive a feeling we've been lumped in there

Sorry guys, but…

It appears history is to blame

History is a nightmare from which I am trying to buy cake