tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post3082596102002699145..comments2024-03-26T09:38:39.888+00:00Comments on Borthlas: Standing up to bulliesJohn Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-16398113285867276822016-11-09T07:00:39.300+00:002016-11-09T07:00:39.300+00:00Spirit,
I'm sure that you would find them int...Spirit,<br /><br />I'm sure that you would find them interesting. And I can tell you that Jonathan is equally keen to expound on his views, having submitted a detailed comment in response to yours. However, this thread isn't about Hillary Clinton, nor is it about the US election, and I'm not allowing it to be diverted onto those topics. John Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-54123814246879712372016-11-08T10:21:28.555+00:002016-11-08T10:21:28.555+00:00Shame about the editing. Jonathan`s view of Mrs Cl...Shame about the editing. Jonathan`s view of Mrs Clinton would have been interesting.Spirit of BMEnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-3322467044289817752016-11-08T07:51:21.662+00:002016-11-08T07:51:21.662+00:00Jonathan said:
I think it goes deeper, to an old...Jonathan said: <br /><br />I think it goes deeper, to an old, old English hostility, which does not apply in Scotland and used not to apply in Wales. Culture, rationality and principle do not appeal to the powerful in England. These things were beyond the warlord types who vied for and got power in England, and were joined by mercantilists too dim to do medicine, law or the church. Statements of principle or ethics were something they did in France or the Catholic Church. Result? Civics never got on the curriculum, and the ethic of the Bible fell out of it. We never got a rational Constitution. <br />I am not advocating a hegemony of mandarins or brahmins. But I am interested in how a whole population deals with difficult constitutional issues. <br />In the US, where I write this, everybody is taught and can quote chunks of their Constitution and, for better or worse, they know their rights and they know the rules, checks and balances etc. <br />Not in Britain.If we had rules these rules would say "Referendums are not binding and can be revisited" whereas "General Elections are binding for 5 years". And we would not have the present confusion. It does not help for the anti-rational English establishment simply to make up rules as it goes along in a dim anti-rational grope, though in fact it always has done. The result is trouble, as you have pointed out. <br />Cheer up, the actual history of the EU includes myriad examples of "anti" votes which are revisited and end up "Pro". We should take advantage of the confusion to grab our country of Wales back, and keep our Europe-protected civil rights from being trashed. <br />NB – this comment has been slightly edited compared to that submitted. The comments about one of the presidential candidates in the US may well have been true, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not libellous.<br />John Dixonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.com