Isolationism

A little history from our Dublin correspondent.

   I am not sure why the UK signed up for the EU in the first place. They were so used to being the head of an empire that they really only see themselves in that position. They still lament the loss of what they see as the "greatest empire the world has ever seen." That was a comment from a UK commentator on the BBC recently. I for one thought the Roman empire, the Mogul Empire, and the empire built by Alexander the Great could also lay claim to that title.
  The right wing United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) wants England for the English, without realizing the English are a homogeneous people or without defining what it is to be English. Britain was invaded over the centuries by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Romans, Normans, Vikings and Danes, all of whom did their best to suppress the native Celtic tribes.

   More recently, as Britain expanded its empire, the citizens of those imperial nations could live in England as a right. As a result, there are millions of Indians, Irish, Pakistanis, Nigerians, Jamaicans, etc all living in England and have been for many generations. Even the leader of UKIP has a French surname. I think the Indians and Pakistanis, etc are not great supporters of UKIP. While UKIP may be doing well in certain localities, those areas are probably not ethnically mixed, and UKIP will need a wider mandate to get into a leadership position.

   If you saw the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics you would have found out that if it were not for England there would have been no Industrial Revolution, the world wide web would not exist, and computers would not have been invented. A few years ago they even laid claim to
time starting in England; that claim was based on GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, where the 24 time zones begin.

   Quite honestly, the rest of Europe is probably weary of hearing them and their silly claims.

   Now, here's some additional information about "foreigners":
   As for dominating science and the Industrial Revolution, here are a few claims for the Scots: James Watt, steam engine; Thomas Newcomen, who improved it; Alexander Graham Bell, hearing aid and telephone; Alexander Fleming, penicillin, John Loudon McAdam, roadbuilder with macadam paving; mackintosh raincoats; James Simpson, Edinburgh physician, first to use anesthetics in surgery; Joseph Lister, professor of surgery in Glasgow (Listerine antisepsis); Cyrus McCormick, reaper; David Dunbar Buick, overhead combustion valves for autos (yes, that Buick); John Boyd Dunlop, pneumatic tires; Andrew Meikle, grain flailing machines, and many others.

   Not to mention golf, whisky and bagpipes, three of the greatest contributions to western culture.
  Also, here's a nod to Adam Smith, the Scot who founded the modern concept of economics.

   So in many ways, the campaign of the UK Independence Party echoes many strategies used by the America Firsters, the Know Nothings of the 19th Century, and contemporary activists who demand that America's southern boundary be fenced off to keep out immigrants. They forget that America was founded and populated by immigrants every generation, including some who crossed into the country illegally. That last includes Henry Ford's ancestor, who came from Ireland to Canada, then walked across the unfenced border into the U.S.

   Discrimination and bigotry against those deemed "different" is not limited to England today, much less America or any other country. They vary in intensity and subtlety, but they are there.
   In America, it's useful to keep in mind that Spanish is not and never has been a "foreign" language, since Spanish-speakers sailed to North America many decades before the first English speakers arrived.

   And finally, as for England for the English, where would Manchester United's championship football team be without Sir Alex Ferguson, the team's longtime coach?