currency. (Labour is trying to catapultrnBritain into the European single currencyrnas soon as possible.) Now that evenrnDcput’ Prime Minister John Prcscott,rnwho has a face like a Dickensian parishrnbeadle, considers himself to be middlernclass (his new allegiance caused a massivernpublic argument with his father), thernleft needs to invent new client groups,rnnew victims who can be bribed into becomingrnsupporters. It then uses the newrngroups as battering rams against mainstreamrnsocieh’, whilst Middle Kngland isrndistracted b talk of curfews for teenagern’andals.rnBlair’s student-union idealism vouldrnbe mercK- risible except that it is now beingrndri’en by skillful political managers.rnFor tacticians like Peter Mandelson, politicalrnidealism seems almost to take secondrnplace to professional pride. Mostrnworr)’ingly of all, for the first fime a largernnumber of wealthy businessmen havernbeen persuaded to back Labour. Thesernbusinessmen wish both to salve their ownrnguilty consciences and to expand theirrncompanies’ markets in the incrcasinglvrnborderless world promised by Third Wayrninternationalists (and conscrvafivc “usefulrnidiots”). The ulfimate desfination ofrndie ‘I’hird Way express train, whether allrndie passengers know it or not, is an anfiseptic,rnultramodern, rational, egalitarian,rnpolitically correct, regimented—and inhumanrn—world, where everyone willrnhave equal access to polenta and mineralrnwater.rnLeftists claim that they are a persecutedrnminoritv of “radicals.” This belief isrnimportant to them, and allows them to recruitrnamong each new generation ofrnyoung people. ‘I’he truth is, of course,rndiat being left wing has not been radicalrn(or even interesting) since about 1920.rnIn our shrinking, ever less interestingrnworld, the real radicals now are the localists,rnregioualists, patriots, traditionalists,rnagrarians, some anarchists, ecologists,rncommunitarians, and religious conservatives.rnThese are people who are attachedrnviscerally to their own peoples or regions,rnwho remember hi.stor)’, who like life onrnthe human scale, who believe in plainrnspeaking, who distrust all elites, who arcrnsuspicious of Pelagian “progress,” who respectrnnature, who are romantic andrnchivalrous, who prefer Shakespeare tornSalman Rushdie, and who like using imperialrnmeasurements rather than the .systemrndevised by Labour’s cruder Frenchrnancestors. But unless these groups can bern|3crsuadcd to work together, they willrnsimpK’ be mopped up or made “irrelevant,”rnone at a time.rnBlair’s speech, which was nothing lessrnthan a declaration of war against all ofrnBritish civilization, has finalh’ madernsome rightists feel threatened. Even WilliamrnHague’s overly well-mannered Conservativesrnhave realized dimly that theyrnare in trouble, leading Mr. Hague to propovmdrna retaliatory “Common SensernRevolution” of tax cuts and educationalrnchoice that, when combined withrnHague’s moderate Euro-skepticism, isrnlikelv to be popular electorally. ButrnHague’s “revolution” lca’cs man- thingsrnunaddressed —Labour’s pro-IRi policiesrnin Northern Ireland, its cheap selling-offrnof gold resei-vcs, its rabid political correctness,rnits promotion of homosexnalih’, itsrnlove for “benefit tourists” and “politicalrnrefugees,” its continuing dumbing-downrnof culture, and its hypocrisy, exemplifiedrnby a government minister’s attacks onrntiiose who own two homes. (This particularrnminister has tiiree.)rnRightists (and leftist patriots) need tornw ake up now to tiie menace posed bv thisrncurrent administration. Soviet-shle communismrnmay be gone, but it has been replacedrnby a vast post-Marxist/post-rnMethodist campaign to revolutionizernfieryaspect of British life. I o counteractrnI ony Blair’s “missionary zeal,” as one approvingrntrade-union observer called it, allrnthose opposed to globalization, Puritanism,rnand mediocritv’ will need to discorner some missionary zeal of tlieir own.rnDerek liimer is the editor of RightrnNOW!, puhlifihed in IMIKIOII.rnLetter FromrnCosta Ricarnby William MillsrnGone FishingrnMaybe it’s the increasing need to find arnreplacement for what America once was,rnor just the plain joy of sports fishing, butrnwhatever die real mofive, I found myselfrnheaded for Costa Rica in October. I hadrnmost of a day free in San Jose before a littlernbush plane woidd fl) me at six thernnext morning over to the Caribbean side.rnNot wanting to spend the afternoonrntouching up m tan b’ the gigantic poolrnat the Hotel Irazu, I did something I seldomrndo: I took a tour bus around town.rnAs happens on many journeys, the accidentalrnincidents or sights vere half thernattraction. Traffic in San Jose is congestedrnbig fime and most of the time. Yourntake your life in your hands at a crossingrnwhen you walk with the light. Againstrnthe light . . . muerto. Tliirs it was quiternfunny, but telling, when we passed whatrnlooked like a small fenced “city,” designedrnfor Lilliputians, where childrenrnwere taught how to survive the San Joserntraffic with little stop signs and crosswalks.rnWe need one of those in the townrnwhere I live, but for high-school students.rnThey have die best computers that propertyrntaxes can buy, have been schooled inrnhow to use condoms, but at lunehtime,rnrather than walk 30 feet to a crossing,rnthey run across a busy four-lane thoroughfarernto get to the Taco Bell. Its onlyrna matter of fime before the feds sue TacornBell after tliev finish with the gmi manufacturers.rnSomewhere in San Jose, I noticed arnvery long line of people snaking its wayrnaround several corners. My genial tourrnhost told me they were Niearaguan illegalsrntrying to get papers so they couldrnwork. I’liere are now a half-million illegalrnNicaraguans in Costa Rica. I tiionghtrnall die trouble was over in Nicaragua. Irnmean, it had free elections, o erseen bvrnPresident Jimmy, die commies were otedrno u t . . . but that’s right, tlie two Ortegarnbrothers were left in charge of die anny.rnBig change from Somoza, right?rnA short digression. I went to die samernhigh school as Barry Seals. Barry was anrnenterprising lad, flying dope out of LatinrnAmerica and doing quite well. But thernfeds caught him and put him on dieirrnteam. They rigged up his cargo planernwirii hidden cameras, and that’s how werngot die film of die Ortega brothers loadingrndope on Barr’s plane in Nicaragua.rnAt diis point, I’m liaz” on the details, butrnbecause of some jurisdictional disputernbetween our federal dope gus and a federalrnjudge, Barry was not free and clear,rnbut had to go to a “halfway house” punctuallyrnat five o’clock every night. I’hatrnwas a death sentence, of course. In arnshort time, he was shot to death enteringrndie Salvafion Army dormitory for his fiverno’clock curfew. Turned out to be notrnhalfway but all the wa-.rnFEBRUARY 2000/.’i9rnrnrn