the tower warders, our guide is a retired sergeant major and expressesnhimself with the bluntness of an American marinenDI. He explains to the group that the Tower was one of a seriesnof fortresses built to keep the French out, “And if you ask me,nwe still feel the same way, despite all this talk about the Chunnel.”nI heard similar (albeit more cautious) expressions from somenof the Tory journalists I spoke with, but-the enemy was nonlonger France or even Russia. It was Germany, the state thatnwas using the European Community as a front group for itsnprogram of economic and political domination on the continent.nAmerica had saved Europe from the Germans twice alreadynin this century. Were we willing to do it again?nOne editorial writer was very candid with me. He had beenna correspondent in the States for several years and had concludednthat Americans, unlike Europeans, had no settled nationalnidentity and were, as a consequence, free of all the jealousiesnand animosities that made it impossible for Britain tonaccept immigrants with good grace. “When I’m in America,nI feel just as if I am American and that I am accepted as one.nThat would never happen to a foreigner here.” I suggested thatnthis might have more to do with the essential kindness andnfriendliness of Americans, which is one of the characteristics ofnour national identity.nHe disagreed and went on to argue that only Americansnnow had the guts to stand up to aggression, and that it was stillnour destiny to take up the white man’s burden. The English,nunfortunately, have never been able to shake off their imperialnattitudes. One English-American journalist told me recentlynthat he opposed the imperialism of his adopted country,nthe United States, because he had grown up under the shadownof lost empire and seen the disastrous effects on Englishnmorale. But I wonder if it is only in decline that empires sapnthe national vigor.nIf you can push through the crowds at Westminster Abbey,nyou will be treated to as gaudy a display of imperial vulgarity asnyou could ever hope to imagine. It is the real Euro-Disney. Ofncourse there are the tombs of Plantagenets, Tudors, and Stuarts,nbut almost cheek by jowl with the patriots and tyrantsnare memorials to plutocracy and power. The “poets’ corner”nought to be a refreshing change from all the ostentation, butnthe English have not been content simply to bury a few notablenpoets. They are clearly embarrassed by the preponderancenof second-raters whose reputations have not endured. Historynmust, therefore, be corrected, and memorial plaques havenbeen installed to commemorate writers who have not actuallynbeen buried in the Abbey.nThe crypt at St. Paul’s is almost as garish as WestminsternAbbey. What kind of crypt is as clean, organized, and brightnas the athletic facilities of a Big Ten university? It is good for annation to remember its heroes, and my daughter pitied Americansnwho, no matter what they might achieve in their lifetimes,nwhat sacrifices they might make for their country, willnbe forgotten within a generation of their death. I was,nnonetheless, disturbed by the tendency toward national selfglorification.nBut if the Tories are nationalists when it comes to the UnitednKingdom, they feel quite differently about the Scots.nRecent opinion polls indicated that a majority of Scots wantedna new deal within or without the United Kingdom. Most Toriesnput this down to greed and treachery. The Scots merelynwant to hog the North Sea oil and are looking for a betterndeal with the European Community than they think they cannget from London.nDespite the evidence of widespread nationalist sentiment innScotland—and a series of very effective ads with Sean Connery—thenScots National Party was not able to convince thenvoters to break with Labour. But John Major’s success may,nsomewhat paradoxically, have the effect of driving voters innthe northern kingdom into the arms of the Scots Nats.nIn Italy, the picture is somewhat clearer. Plagued by debt,nfinancial scandals, and rumors of ties to organized crime, thengoverning coalition of Christian Democrats, Socialists, andntwo smaller parties failed to secure a parliamentary majority innthe March elections. In a symbolic sense the big winner wasnUmberto Bossi and the Lega Lombarda, which has gone fromnless than 2 percent in 1987 to almost 9 percent in 1992. Innnorthern Italy they went up to the high teens and even succeedednin capturing Milan. Bossi now heads the second largestnparty in the north and the fourth largest party in Italy. Whatnhis Lega Nord coalition wants is a new constitution modelednon Swiss federalism in which the various ethnic regions ofnItaly will be able to express their cultural identity and controlntheir economic and political life.nThe part of Bossi’s program that has attracted the mostnnegative publicity is his strong stand against immigration. Innthe Land elections in Germany surprising gains were registerednby right-wing/anti-immigrant parties, particularly by thenRepublicans who polled almost 11 percent in Baden-Wiirttemberg.nIn France Jean-Marie Le Pen’s Front National, althoughnit failed to do as well as the leader had predicted, wentnfrom 9.7 percent in 1988 to 14 percent on the strength of a singlenissue.nI put the question of Le Pen’s significance to a variety ofnFrench intellectuals. One member of the Catholic right explainednto me that Muslims now enjoy religious privileges innthe work place that are not granted to Catholics. While takingnissue with many particulars of the Le Pen program, he toldnme that it was the duty of every patriotic Frenchman to supportnhis efforts.nThis view is not widely shared. France’s leading political intellectualninsisted that Le Pen’s failure to capture Nice meantnthat his party had run out of steam. “What about the immigrationnissue,” I asked. That, I was told, is a different matter.nThe French are neither xenophobic nor racist, he explained,nand they have successfully absorbed waves of Spanish, Italian,nand even Polish immigrants. Muslims are a different story.nThey don’t want to be assimilated. On the contrary, theynwant all the advantages of French citizenship along with specialnprivileges as members of a minority. Under Mitterrand, thenhypocrisy has become insufferable. “Suppose someone stealsnyour bicycle. The police say they can do nothing. When yountell them, ‘but it was an Arab; I know where you can get him,’nthe police call you a Nazi. It is absurd.”nThese sentiments were echoed by everyone I spoke with, includingnone distinguished editor who declared the problemnwas insoluble. The Muslims could not, in all likelihood, be deported,nand they did not wish to be assimilated. In the oldndays, France could take in large numbers of immigrants, becausenthe three great institutions of national life—the Church,nthe army, and the schools—could be relied upon to Frenchifynthe children in short order. But none of these institutionsnhas retained its sense of purpose. French schools are now al-nnnJULY 1992/15n
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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