Its quiet. The Brits around me are stunned. These are well educated people who are concerned about their future. They are not those who voted for Brexit. They are also quite aware of the fear and anger in the Caucasian population that see itself becoming increasingly irrelevant as demographics change. They are comfortable ignoring the Irish and Scotts here and would rather not have to deal with the waves of immigration that have arrived from the Commonwealth over the last 30 years. Going back to the 60s is a dream that has long passed.
In the US, segments of our population are perfectly capable of telling themselves stories that don’t include the Spanish settling what is now the US West Coast long before the ancestors of most Western Europeans arrived; They can complete ignore the native populations who “weren’t using the land” as having both been there first and having any rights.
The next four years are going to be interesting. As much as the 60s in some people’s eyes were better than today – we can’t go back. We are in a world economy. What we do affects not just our country but the rest of the world.
America has always been great – we just don’t agree what great means. For me it means education and the ability to better one’s self. To walk in the evening unsafe and unimpeded. To keep politics out of medical procedures and to – as MG Lewis, the CG of 1AR when I was downrange with them in Bosnia, put it –
Dignity and Respect
