Well, there was a clear attack on or critque of Vimothy's supposed world-view here, but not mine. Is it worth reviving the debate on English and/or British society now that:
I don’t remember if I ever responded to Luka’s comment, but perhaps it’s worth saying something now and trying to tie it into the broader picture.
One thing that I agree with Luka about is that it’s important to strike a balance between the needs of the group and the needs of the individual. Groups are hollow without individuals, and individuals can’t realise themselves without groups.
With that said, I think it’s clear that modern liberalism does not achieve this. It puts the individual at the centre of everything, and tries to prevent groups from having any influence on people’s lives. Instead of something that is moderate and temperate, what we have is completely one-sided.
It’s not totally coherent either, so we’re constantly failing to live up to our impossible ideals. No matter what we do, it’s never enough, and people conclude that society conceals some limitless intrinsic evil that works to frustrate our natural right to “be the authors of our own selves”.
Attitudes towards groups in general are a good example of this. People think that inclusiveness is good
per se, and that exclusiveness is bad. But this isn’t something that makes much sense, since to include something is necessarily also to exclude other things.
Liberals want to include everyone in principle, but they’re not sure what it is that they’re bringing them into. That’s why we get these periodic and wryly amusing contortions about British and English identity. “What does it mean to be British?” the intellectuals ask. "Can being British unify British people?" Other intellectuals shout them down for their xenophobic tendencies.
It’s a circle that can’t be squared, though. As soon as being British (or English, or whatever) is meaningful, not being British is also meaningful. But this is exclusive and divisive. So if inclusiveness is the highest standard, being British can’t be allowed to be meaningful in any substantive sense.
e.
