By Matthew Clark
I am a man with a deep British ancestry. According to a DNA analysis I am 47% Scottish,46% Irish, 4% Welsh, 2% English, and 1% Scandanavian. I have verified this as likely being accurate by documenting my family history in census, birth, death, and marriage records. Having British origins has given me more than comfort, it has given me pride. There was, and is, so much to admire in the history of the British.
Yes they had the usual human fallibilities of trying to achieve national goals through violence, and of course empire building. These were blights on their history, but they were blights shared by the entire human race. What made the people of the British Isles special (as in good) was their love of individual liberty. This is a rare trait, prescribed by very few of the worlds' nations.Starting in 1215 with the great charter (Magna Carta) the Island nation(s) embarked on a great adventure in the pursuit of human freedom.
Originally it was the right to be judged in a court of (in this case English) law by ones' peers.Then the Scots came up with the Arbroath Declaration, which proclaimed that the people of a land should choose their nationhood and not have it imposed upon them by a ruler in a far off land (in this case the Pope in Rome). In 1688 and 1689 the Glorious Revolution transpired which spawned a Bill of Rights, and a social contract between Monarch and citizen as espoused by John Locke, which imposed strict limits on the Crowns" ability to search and seize an individuals property, while also giving extensive recognition for an individual to follow their conscience in matters pertaining to both religious, and secular issues.
Initially these rights were only fulfilled for white males who followed the National (Church of England/Presbyterian) denominations. Incrementally they were extended to white males of all Christian faiths, then males of all religions. This was followed by males of all races, and nationalities, enjoying the liberties that are inate to human beings. Finally women were extended the freedoms that were rightfully theirs.
What was also impressive was that the people of the United Kingdom came to admire other people who also cherished these ideals, even when it meant they had beaten the Island Kingdom in wars. Edmund Burke could, and did, stand up in the Mother Parliament and state the justice of the American rebels in their cause against King George III. Winston Churchill in his "History Of The English Speaking Peoples"waxed eloquent on the cruseade of Joan Of Ark in repelling the English Invaders from France. Gandhi in his 1920's tour of England would be swarmed by admiring English denizens.
Given this past it was easy, for myself at least, to proudly admire an ancestry which, although blemished like all other worldly heritages, had so many nuggets of gold shining brightly under scrutiness examination.
Yet today I say adieu to my once proud British background. I say goodbye not because of its' history, but due to that Islands ignoble present. Great Britain, now known as the United Kingdom, has chosen to join the likes of a banal Canada ( my own country), Australia, New Zealand, and a socialpathic United States, in rejecting all the nobility of the countrys' bygone age. It has opted for an insipid global empire of relativism, rejecting the toil of principle(s) for the temporary gratification of convenience.
This deterioration probably has incremental roots originating somewhere in the post World War Two culture. Since early 2020 this trend has become unavoidably transparent. What makes this demise so mysterious is that just prior to the nations descent the citizens of Britain rejected the construction of another Empire (the European Union), in favour of National Sovereignty. Included in the exercise of that option was the promise that individuals would take back control of their lives from a grasping, authoritarian bureaucracy.
Since that time the Political Leaders in the United Kingdom have broken trust with the population by imposing widespread persuasive lockdowns to deal with a rather enemic pandemic, stopped the gathering of medical data which might show that the health authorities methods are failing, and imposed harsh penalties on ordinary citizens who transgressed regulations. Meanwhile similar behaviour from individuals placed highly in the bureaucratic, or parliamentary structure, were excused.
In International Affairs the proprietors of the London Gold Exchange disgraced themselves by confiscating the Gold entrusted to it by the Venezualen Government. This gold was given as a matter of trust by the Venezualen Government. It does not matter the internal, or external, politics of the South American nation. They placed their gold in London expecting it to be safe, as they were assured by the trustees at the Gold Exchange it would be. Instead, in an act of dishonour the gold is seized, to the delight of an Atlantic cartel centred along a Washington to London axis. The Venezualens have committed no transgressions against the Island Nation. London was once the foundation of capitalist honour. Not any more.
Sadly this behaviour is now being expanded upon. With the invasion by Russia of the Ukraine, the government of the United Kingdom, supported by many of the country's citizens, is busy pillaging the property of Russian individuals who happen to have property in Britain. As far as the Brits are concerned it does not matter if these people have no involvement in the Ukraine, it only matters that they are Russians.This is thievery, plain and simple. It is worthy (in a negative sense) of Canada, or the fast deteriorating United States, and definitely the European Union. It is abhorrent to the traditions of due process of law established by the people of Great Britain.
Long ago I gave up on the country I live in, which is Canada. Then I watched in astonishment the disintegration in the United States in their once cherished values of individual liberty. Now it has happened to the United Kingdom. So I say goodbye to my British ancestry. It no longers brings me pride. This farewell is not on account of its' heritage but in spite of it. It is Britain in the present which a moral man must reject.
Saying goodbye to my Britishness is not a personnel tragedy. That would only happen if i lost my family. Nevertheless it is sad to leave behind something which was once so important to me. Like losing an old friend.