Rolling Down The Slope

The country of my birth, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was one of the, perhaps the, dominant force in the world at the end of the 19th century. To paraphrase the words of Manchester United supporters, we did what we wanted in the big wide world. Not that it mattered much to most people living here: my own great-grandpop was too busy not getting blown up while mining coal. I doubt the fact Queen Victoria was Empress of India meant more than jack shit to him or impacted on his life.

Fifty years, and two World Wars, later, the political map had taken a severe swing and the former colony of the USA had taken the crown as Big Chief of the World. OK, they got their arses handed to them in Vietnam, but what they couldn't do with bombs, they could do with their true big gun: capitalism. As opposed to Britain, which as noted by Eddie Izzard, utilised the clever use of flags.

Of course, sections of the English media still lament events before most of our lifetimes. They pine for the days Britannia ruled the waves and if any of the natives give us lip, we’d take them out back and have them shot. That nowadays the citizens of those same said countries should have the cheek to come over here looking for opportunity is nothing short of a scandal, obviously.

The more rational of us see this country for what it is: a pretty prosperous place, in the context of the world as a whole, where it rains a lot. Not as content as Costa Rica, perhaps, but hardly Iraq. Life here is good, despite our moaning about the weather, and the constant moaning from the likes of the Daily Mail and Express makes me struggle to correspond that with the reality I see every day.

And here’s the rub. 100 years ago, news to most people was what happened in their street or at the football game on a Saturday. Media meant the craic in the pub. Then, over the 20th century, first radio and television, then the Internet, took hold and the world shrunk so that now, what could be the fall of the American Empire is there for all to see.

Back to the States, and one of the more interesting aspects of reading the excellent Downward Spiral blog (see right) is that all the information about the economic decline in the States is out there – it’s hardly hidden away in secret Government files. It seems every day Bill blogs about some factory closing and other lay-offs. All I can imagine is that in 100 years time, the elderly will tell the youngsters that “there was a time we had airbases all over the world, and pictures of our film stars in states of undress were highly sought after”.

And yet the mainstream news sources seem to be far too preoccupied with which unhinged lunatic may end up El President next – the idea that there may not be much to take care off in 20 years or so doesn't seem to crop up. Still, who will the Republican choose to run? The homophobic one? The serial adulterer? The racist? Is that one or all of them?

Perhaps the plan is to level Iran and all move there, to ensure people are closer to the oil? All the same, I’d advise young Americans to start learning Chinese dialects if they want a job through the 21st century. It’ll be a damn sight harder then having to learn to spell colour and say aluminium incorrectly.