Peace, bread, work and freedom.

[f4f3]

Just read this piece of brilliance by Andrew O'Hagan in the Guardian. It's an edited version of his Orwell Memorial Lecture, and it has a great deal to say about the death of the Working Class in England, and the causes of death. It made interesting reading for me not just because it brings together a good many of my own interests - Orwell, the radical tradition in England, and the society we're living in, but because O'Hagan's voice is very close to my own - his upbringing was the same, and many of his views were shaped at the same time. It's also a Scottish voice, talking about England, and that's something I rarely do.

I don't talk about England because there's nothing I can do about it. I've said here before that I think of England like the partner in a dead marriage  - I wish Scotland could arrange a quiet separation from it, but I also see it through a mist of better times, and feel a perverse loyalty when it's criticised by anyone but me (I had something of the same feelings about Bush's America - hopefully I'll be able to start feeling proud of it again, soon).

O'Hagan's piece is powerful for me because he does make those criticisms, he does talk about what England was and what it is.

I have a lot of English friends on this list, and a lot of friends from outside the UK: what do you think?

Comments

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I found the toothpaste and shampoo perfectly adequate, but many of English colleagues prefered to import their home brands.

The irony being, of course, that it's the same stuff although (less and less) the brand name may vary. It all comes out of Unilever or P&G's or the Japanese company whose name escapes me's Euro mega plants.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was always quite aware of that irony. Though to be fair, they do offer different products in different markets. I have been so happy that my friend was able to find the mint-eucalyptus shower gel I loved in Argentina on her recent trip. It's made by Palmolive but not available in the US.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

ETA: The biggest irony was actually when I discoverd that the US embassy flew in iceberg lettus for the commissary. Italian produce is so superior to what is available in most of the US, so the thought of importing that junk just makes me laugh. (Not that I didn't use my contacts there to get cranberry sauce at Christmas.)