We 're all crazy now...
To attempt any sane understanding of England we have to begin with one fundamental truth, England is dominated by a rigid class system, the failure to understand this reality would be tantamount to not believing the world is round. Recently the discourse concerning 'class' as been politely swept under the carpet and in the strange case of New Labour has been written out of the political narrative. New Labour famously announced its arrival on the bonfire of hope by stating "We are all middle class now".
No mention was made of the aristocratic hold on British/English institutions which have adapted themselves to the changing role of these septic isles. Indeed the very notion of an aristocratic elite remained buried deep within the deeper corridors of subconscious desires. The English don't believe in thinking to deeply, we prefer to forget, before moving onto the mundane.
Forgetfulness is an addiction best left to explorers of the imagination, more so, when smashed out the mind. Most people accepted the fantasy that aristocratic power had long been confined to historic ramblings of a by gone age. England was cool, hip and ready to go. Any notion of the aristocracy having a hold on power was deemed idiotic (Never the less many rock stars and media celebrities dreamt of putting crowns on their heads and obtaining instant access into never, never land). We have a Royal family to be sure, but, it is assumed they are 'one of us'. This family represents a historical link with our past, present and future. Their presence beholds us to reflect on the greatness of the Empire. Even though the Empire vanished within the chaos of the 20thc. and the loss of European Empires...
Britain/England is a land of many traditions. How far these traditions have any bearing on actuality is another matter. There is an in built appreciative sense of what might have been. It's this 'what might have been' which ignites a strong attachment to the idea of Royal continuity and a sense of pride in its historic mission.
Never the less, social power is always excepted, , expected to reside outside the participation of certain social groups like Trade Unions or any other organisations who, in the minds of the Elite, seem fit to question the stability of the Nation. Know your place on the ladder of power and hierarchy, and England's tranquil existence will remain undemished, the stability of the Nation resides in its ability to transform the cherished institutions which made it great and still informs the mind set of the political class. It's the mythical sense of stability which, in fact, undermines the value of shared experience and community coherence. Social power is a top down mechanism which insures the continuity of historical understanding, but, the people at the top are isolated by those they seek to rule, the are always untouched by the human and historical experience of the people who make history.
We still have, our lords and ladies, we have knights of the realm, we have barons, we still have servants and ladies in waiting, we still hold grand parties which are colourful outpourings of national pride, we celebrate the Queens Birthday, we have a prince of Wales, people get Knighted, people become Guards of Honour, people still dress up and chase foxes across fields and over moors. Pop stars receive knight hoods and go even madder by taking themselves very seriously indeed, old punks even shoulder in on the act. Class rules and status is the only game in town. Status under pins the moral fabric of the English class system. Status is the fabric which colludes with the dream of past Empire achievements. And within the fabric is the texture of power. Power revolves around the Elite. Democracy stops at the gates of private ownership and private investment and banking.
The Royal family is a brand, a world wide corporate enterprise, with its own rules and rituals. Insulated from reality, the Royal House Hold, still demands obedisance and acceptance. The Elite is caught up in its web of difference and private space. It is a closed shop. One attraction which highlights the invisibility of 'true' historical importance is the cultural obsession with the vast mansions and estates of the aristocracy. These bloated architectural monsters represent the imposition of power on the rural ideal of a Green and Pleasant Land. What happened to the small farmers who once populated the landscape? The manicured gardens and charming walk ways represent a world within a world, reality stops at the gates of and the walls which separate the private from the public. The small farmers and land people who toiled the holdings had no means of resisting these land grabs. Their histories have been forgotten. Indeed they have been written out of history. When people stories are colonised we are confronted by a violent disjunction, a rupture, in the narrative of cultural identity. People, farmers, small holders where cleared from their homes in order for the Elite to proudly boast its arrival on the psychic of English political identity. England was becoming an Empire and its institutions were expected to adapt to this changing world order.
Education became an important rout into preserving the values of a superior class and the function of a far flung Empire. Public Schools had to adapt to the change. This change was reflected in its emphases on ritual, manners and adherence to the values of the 'School'. Latter the school would become the club, and the club would become the pathway into a future. Tradition and Empire went hand in hand. Reality was passed over, replaced by a set of inventions and conventions based upon a spurious identification with a mystical past. There are select clubs with member's rules. Lords cricket club, for instance, is ultra strict and requires a behaviour and dress code which look back to the hay day of the English public school system. Farting is not allowed.
We even have the House of Lords, a staging post for a mysterious set of nostalgic wish fulfilments, a place elevated to the highest levels of intelligence and good manners. In reality it nothing more than a gothic collection of failed politiancians, Church of England dignitaries,' captains' of industry, bankers, and all sorts of oddball individuals, and wealthy drunks whose befuddled brains are so far in the past they still imagine the threat of the red terror hovering over the White Cliffs of Dover, and young people's moral certitude being threatened by foreign ideas and UN English values.
England is a landscape of historic fantasy and invented histories. Our invisible constitution makes it clear that power resides in the laws and functions of The Mother of Parliaments. Indeed, invisibility is a Machiavellian weapon which helps perpetuate the fantasy of elective responsibility.
The Elite operates within a different sphere than the Establishment, even though the two inter link via the social order of networking. Both operate within ideologicical pressure points. They both share a confident, informality within social relationships/ and networking, via corporate gatherings. The Establishment uses its experience in the 'manipulation' of Governing institutions. Mostly, the Establishment uses its educational advantage' provided by Eton, Oxford, Cambridge, and , other extremely expensive forms of private education, to manipulate society, culture, rather than attempt an understanding of what gels civic fabrics into achieving more 'modern' out look in a world where the idea of a United Kingdom is seen as some out dated fantasy.
There is no 'club' structure to the Establishment. This adds the allure of unaccountable power and individual self aggrandisement. Although the lack of 'club' structure adds that sense of privilege it also helps in maintaining the university ties which have built up over the years of professional contacts in the higher echelons of public/private life. One gate way into the world of power and indulgence is entry into the world of banking. Contacts built up and nurtured whilst 'studying' at a college i.e. Oxford/Cambridge, family contacts within existing global banking system insures an easy rout through the doors of finance. This discriminatory advantage is not questioned by the majority of a media, why? If the world of high finance seems too difficult to handle, one can always seek out the BBC or one of Murdoch's outlets like the Times. If this proves too difficult an achievement there is always the possibility of a role in other T.V or advertising. Experience and intelligence are not required, instead contacts and social mobility is the order of the day.
The Banking disaster began in America, where educational elites also rule the roost, in England; the virus of corruption, soon dominated the media and banking worlds. And here we were given the first real insight into the dynamic existence of the 'masters' of finance. They looked shell shocked and comically weird. Carefully manicure, bronzed, healthy with the easy charm of class bestowed on them by wealth, breeding and education, the public was given a taste of what these strangers on earth actually thought. Shock! They knew not what was going on. Like little rabbits trapped in the headlights of a slow moving truck, these weirdo's really didn't have a clue what was unfolding. This is dangerous, when you think these people have had the most expensive and ancient education imaginable one might be forgiven into believing they might have SOME understanding of the economic disaster they helped create. But, they really haven't a clue. Like the ill fated and appealingly mishandled Charge of the Light Brigade, these clueless examples of establishment personas, simply blamed everyone else, spate out idiotic platitudes and demanded money from the Government, the Government capitulated and gave them the money they needed. Whilst the world was falling apart, the Establishment went about their business as usual.
In the meantime the Aristocracy carried on living in a state of divine forgetfulness, apparently hoping something will come along and sort itself out, something unspecified, not to demanding, not to difficult. Recently our loyal government gave the Royal Household an 11% pay rise. Ascot, Wimbledon, Henley, Fox Hunting, Shooting Grouse in the Highlands, nights at the Opera and all the other perks which are assumed to be the right of passage for this gilded, expensive tribe carried on as if nothing serious had happened. But, with the introduction of 'the worst Budget in history' a light was shone into the deeper regions of the Establishment. More so into the workings of the mighty Banking Tribe. Under scrutiny from the more liberal sections of the media, high flying wiz kids, in the City of London suddenly appeared in the public domain. For the Establishment this was proving to be a 'situation' rather like the ill thought out budget. Basically, the mask was exposing the creature. The expensive education laid bear a reality, these people may be 'clever', but, they are emotionally immature with the life skills of a mad dog guiding a crack house.
The flowing gowns, coloured chapel glass widows, cavalry twill and cut glass accents have no reality to the lives of normal people. The expansive, elitist education is a way of life to those individuals born into wealth and privilege. All the contacts in the whole world don't amount to anything in the face of their disasters. They are the crazy ones, unfortunately, their contorted view of the world as brought about a catastrophic cascade of empty headed doctrines based on nothing more than class prejudice and utter ignorance of the real world. Living in a world of private functions, private clubs, private parties and private deals, the last thing in the world they want is public exposure. From the private function to the high rise steel and glass monoliths' which dominate the London skyline it is now obvious that Business is a done deal on the back of a used toilet roll.
But it takes 'one of them' i.e. The Tory Chancellor, one George (Gideon) Osborn, a Baronet, to make his way to yet another E.U. gathering of zombie folk and suggest that bankers should not be tied to any restrictions on their bonuses. The ones who made the disaster are the ones who should be paid more! Let it not be said England knows what it does. Like one of Shakespeare's plays depicting the lives of kings, England is a fantasy land trapped in its own makes believe existence. The budget exposed the decline of England.
Recently Cameron, our ilustrous PM, married into the landed Aristocracy, suggested putting up barriers to stop the influx of Greek peoples rushing to these mystical lands of yore. Not only is this a spiteful advertisement to racial sentiments, it simply shows just how stupid these people are. The idea was laughed at. But the danger exists. They may be mad, yet they rule the kingdom.
Coming next... the HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES...How England destroyed a Nation and then created the Myth of Englishness... A