Grubby scandals, overreach, ineffectual leadership,
unnecessary wars, poor judgement, economic Armageddon, the rise and rise of
mediocrity. Not necessarily in that order. It’s all there as it was with the
Greek, Roman, Ottoman etc empires.
We had the overreach internationally with
the illegal invasion of Iraq - the direct consequences are far from played out.
We had the financial overreach, the consequences peaking in the financial crash
of 2008 – far from played out. As a preliminary to the current governmental
grimy sexual scandal we had the MPs expenses scandal. Then on June 23rd
2016 the UK leaned heavily on the big red self-destruct button and now it’s stuck
in the ON position.
Yes, with Brexit full steam ahead to the cliff edge
we have Westminster embroiled in a seedy who-touched-whom soap opera. MPs are
fiddling – in a different way this time - while Rome (excuse the very accurate
pun) burns.
Neither have we missed out on the rise of the
ambitious but limp. Gavin Williamson appears to have made himself head of
Britain’s Defence with a mixture of crawling toadyism, chameleon abilities to
switch from one administration to another and having, as chief Tory whip,
access to the list of his MP’s sexual misconduct and therefore prior knowledge
of who would be resigning any time soon. To make up for whatever he is lacking, it is reported that he keeps a pet tarantula on his desk – called Kronos for
heaven’s sake. Because what we really need is to be reminded that we are going
down the same sink hole as another once admired and powerful civilistaion.
This was the letter published in the press (you know
what a mania I have for letters to editors – see blog 244)
Dear
Editor,
Goofy
Gavin Williamson is exactly what UK politics needs right now. Another
inexperienced but crawlingly ambitions, intellectually mediocre white bloke who
knows how to suck up to whichever non-entity is in power while having no
comprehension of his own limitations and careless of his aptitude for the job.
It’s
not the tarantula on the new Defence Secretary’s desk MPs need to worry about
(there, I presume, for the same reason runty men buy dangerous dogs)- it’s the
blank behind the eyes…
This is how empires end. Not from external pressure
but from the rot within.
OK – no one is arguing that Britain is an empire now
or since WWII but we certainly remained at the top table, the first class
carriage, the 5 star hotel – long after ‘letting the servants go’ long after
the shine had worn off, long after the
bank vaults were emptied and the tatty jewellery sold off. But now we have
entered that era of self-destruct which is where all the energy seems to be
going. In this we are not original. Look at every empire from the Ottoman
Empire to Charlemagne to the good ol’ Romans we loved to read about at school
with their straight roads, togas and Russel Crowe.
I listen with increasing incredulity (and you know
my incredulity levels are already at bursting point) to the binary chit chat on
the radio about trade opportunities post-Brexit. Even the Remainers are
struggling to find something positive to say while the Brexiters continue
happily in their parallel universe where shutting yourself out of the £240billion
of exports to the EU will be replaced by selling Haggis to Canada and whisky to
China.
Self-destruction,
unnecessary conflict, corrosive corruption, endemic incompetence, obsessive
focus on self and almost unstoppable sexual scandal and predatory sexual
behaviour, financial over-extension, falling standards, failing institutions,
moral and social decay, failure of leadership, excessive military spending
coupled with lack of investment, a wealthy elite exploiting cheap labour
hampering general development and prosperity, internal bickering. Need I go on?
Once the mediocre and self-serving have risen all the way to the top a
single sound rises above the cacophony and you can hear the fat lady singing.
All empires end this way…
*
How about a free book for light relief?
The one that got away in the last giveaway is
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and grab yourself a free kindle copy of Eating
the Vinyl (from this Thursday 9th Nov to Monday 13th)
If you don’t want light relief then buy Zero One Zero Two – same link
Or choose from the smorgasbord of paperback books
for Christmas presents