14 Apr 2026 3:08 pm
I'm a supporter of the new ReformUK party. I'm a 'patriot' of all liberal democracies. Culturally, I'm an American patriot, having been born and raised there. The world is increasingly interlocked, and if you're a supporter of liberal democracy, you should be concerned about its fate in every country.
The UK government has the same problem that other welfare states -- indeed all states -- do: the number of things it wants to spend money on is infinite, its source of money finite. The average voter, everywhere, is necessarily limited in his knowledge of history, of human society, of world affairs. If he's lucky, he gets political leaders who are not limited in this way (or, more likely, have advisors who are not limited in this way.
Thus we were all lucky when, by historic accident, the British got Churchill. The average British voter was heavily influenced by the 'dull carnage' of World War I, and desperately wanted to avoid another world war. Churchill saw that, given Hitler's character, war was unavoidable. Had he been killed by the taxi that hit him on a visit to New York in the early 30's, the Conservative government at the end of the 30's would probably have done a deal with Hitler that allowed him to concentrate all his forces against the Soviet Union, and quite possibly conquer it. We would be living in a very different world had that happened.
Trump is a historic accident, just like Churchill. He may affect world history as radically as Churchill did.
As for Iranians chanting 'Death to America', yes, that's trivial. Anti-American sentiment is fairly widespread around the globe, for various reasons. There are plenty of Iranians who would be overjoyed to see the 82nd Airborne and the USMC appearing on their streets, probably including some who were chanting 'Death to America' in 1979.
To understand Iran, you need to know about a fellow named Mohammed Mossadegh and also about an Iranian organization called Savak. Look here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAK
The UK government has the same problem that other welfare states -- indeed all states -- do: the number of things it wants to spend money on is infinite, its source of money finite. The average voter, everywhere, is necessarily limited in his knowledge of history, of human society, of world affairs. If he's lucky, he gets political leaders who are not limited in this way (or, more likely, have advisors who are not limited in this way.
Thus we were all lucky when, by historic accident, the British got Churchill. The average British voter was heavily influenced by the 'dull carnage' of World War I, and desperately wanted to avoid another world war. Churchill saw that, given Hitler's character, war was unavoidable. Had he been killed by the taxi that hit him on a visit to New York in the early 30's, the Conservative government at the end of the 30's would probably have done a deal with Hitler that allowed him to concentrate all his forces against the Soviet Union, and quite possibly conquer it. We would be living in a very different world had that happened.
Trump is a historic accident, just like Churchill. He may affect world history as radically as Churchill did.
As for Iranians chanting 'Death to America', yes, that's trivial. Anti-American sentiment is fairly widespread around the globe, for various reasons. There are plenty of Iranians who would be overjoyed to see the 82nd Airborne and the USMC appearing on their streets, probably including some who were chanting 'Death to America' in 1979.
To understand Iran, you need to know about a fellow named Mohammed Mossadegh and also about an Iranian organization called Savak. Look here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAVAK