500

As this is to be my 500th post since I started this blog, I've been wondering what I should write about.

Climate change? No - that's been covered quite a lot recently and, to be honest, there's not much more to say about it. I'll still post about it of course - not because I expect to convince anyone to change their mind, just because it amuses me to see the whole anthropogenic global warming myth slowly unravelling before our eyes.

Not climate change, then - how about the Tories? Maybe not. Cameron? Definitely not! Brown? Even less chance!

No, my 500th post has to be about the thing which, after my family, I probably care most about.

England.

In particular I want to look forward to the day when England can once again call herself England and be comfortable with herself. Where flying the flag is not frowned upon or a simple display of sporting jingoism, but is an unselfconscious exhibition of true pride for the nation and her glory.

Where patriotism and loyalty are no longer attributes to be derided, but prized. Where we celebrate our nation and national heritage without shame or doubt. Where we understand once more that to be born English is to be truly blessed. A nation united under the Crown, governed by the rule of law and the true parliamentary democracy that has served us so well for so long.

A nation no longer riven by arguments over issues of class, race, religion, gender and sexuality equality, but that recognises that these differences exist and that their very existence is demonstration of the tolerance of the English people. A nation that recognises that freedom of thought is THE fundamental principle of Englishness and that any attempt to constrain freedom of thought is a basic violation of our humanity and our liberty.

A nation that can once more take pride in her great historic achievements and will once again demonstrate to the world what a proper western liberal democracy should look like and how a parliamentary system should operate.

A nation that glories in her history and celebrates it accordingly. That accepts the traditions, the pomp and pageantry as essential parts of what makes up this nation rather than anachronistic ambiguities that need to be dismantled to make us more like every other nation - the majority of which look upon England with envy. A nation that is proud to be different and to say these things are ours and part of us and no one may take them away - ever.

A nation where our kids are no longer tools of the state, indoctrinated from birth into believing liberal progressive fallacies and sentimentalist claptrap dressed as "social science" but who are educated in proper schools that teach proper academic subjects in a proven way that rewards high achievers and does not seek to penalise them in the name of "egalitarianism".

A nation whose universities are once more recognised as the greatest learning institutions in the world, turning out the great thinkers, philosophers and poets who for centuries shaped and determined the world.

Schools and universities that turn out the academics, engineers, scientists and specialists as they did in the past as we led the world in design and technology that drove the Industrial Revolution through the 17th, 18th, 19th and into the 20th centuries.

A nation that understands that a nation producing these high academics needs also the skilled and dedicated workers to turn the dreams into reality and that all these people require the industries and economic conditions necessary to achieve these dreams.

A nation which bows down to none, that stands firm in the face of intimidation and will defend the interests of herself and her allies - wherever they may be and however small they may be. A nation that is prepared to lead the world in righting wrongs and fighting evil, that is strong and determined and buoyed with an unshakeable belief in its foundations of fairness, tolerance and justice.

A nation that understands that looking after the environment, like charity, begins at home and means ensuring that our countryside is managed properly and that the best way that is achieved is through support for local farms and local people - not through some offshore agro-business or through some foreign bureaucracy in a remote European city.

A nation that cherishes the countryside as vital to the very being of the nation. That recognises that the rolling hills and managed hedgerows are indelibly linked to the national consciousness and that carpeting this landscape in hellish whirling concrete wind turbines is a crime against the nation.

A nation that understands that the very look of the nation is part of what makes England what it is. From the smallest village with the church spire poking above the cluster of rooftops, to the largest cities and their grand edifices of stone and marble. Where unashamedly English architecture once more dominates the skyline instead of generic monstrosities of metal and glass that could be anything, anywhere.

A nation that once more takes pride in herself and her landscape. Where our towns and villages are no longer run down and blighted by ugly brutish buildings, graffiti, litter, crime and anti-social behaviour but are living, thriving communities full of people working together in the common interest of their community.

Where the streets are reclaimed by the good and the law-abiding and the feckless and the lawbreakers are the ones cowering behind their drawn curtains and trembling at the sound of the doorbell or the rap of a policeman's gloved fist upon their locked door.

Where our children can once more play in the park, walk to school or take a bus to town without having to be accompanied everywhere by a parent for fear of attack from other children or, worse still, predatory paedophiles. Where children’s spirit of adventure and the need to expend their energy is no longer constrained by political correctness or fear of harm, but is encouraged as a positive force on a child's development.

A nation where the parents prefer through choice to be the principle carers for their child instead of farming the responsibility out to paid operatives who have no real interest in that child. A nation where children can be children without the pressure from the media to grow up and become adults too soon.

A nation where adults behave like adults, dress like adults (instead of overgrown babies in their all day romper wear) and talk like adults. Where the understanding that the very way you talk, dress and present yourself is an implicit indication of the level of respect you accord your fellow man.

A nation where our elderly are afforded the dignity and respect that they deserve. Where we take pride in the way we look after our pensioners rather than strive to lock them away unseen and uncared for.

A nation where children grow up in the stable traditional two parent family, which is so vitally necessary for the foundation of a civilised society, enshrined in the institution of marriage and safe under the rule of law. Where respect for one's neighbour, responsibility, manners and politeness once more outweigh the "rights" of those to cause offence through intolerable and intolerant behaviour.

A nation where hard work is rewarded in a genuinely meritocratic way and where the shirkers and scroungers are recognised for what they are and treated as they should be.

A nation where the dignity of work is once more amongst the highest aspirations of all people. Where people once more refuse to take hand outs preferring instead the notion of an honest days pay for an honest days work, but where the ethics and loyalty of employees is balanced by equally ethical employer responsibility and loyalty

A nation which takes pride in what it makes and produces, preferring those goods over foreign imports of dubious quality and ethical. Where the people understand that buying local goods benefits themselves in the long run far more than buying a slightly cheaper similar product that may have a short term gain.

A nation where the people take responsibility for their own actions and are not forever looking for someone else to take the blame. Where "health and safety" regulation has been replaced once more by common sense and personal responsibility. Where the people share a common moral baseline based on traditional Christian principles of respect for ones fellow man, consideration for others and the discipline of resisting temptation for indulgence and excess.

Some people may read through this and dismiss it as the ramblings of a reactionary harking back to an ideal that never really existed or, even if it did, could never exist again. I believe they are wrong.

I believe they are wrong because I believe they underestimate what it is to be English and the English people themselves. The last poem I posted - England, 1802 by William Wordsworth, demonstrates that where we are now is nothing new and our relatively recent Victorian past demonstrates that returning to the England that I, and many others I am sure, long for is both achievable and realistic. Most of all I have an unshakeable faith in the English people to put things right. We've done it before and we will do it again and, what is more, I believe that the tide is already beginning to turn.

I am certain that one day, in the not too distant future, England will be the great and truly independent nation she once was with most if not all of the things I have outlined above and that, one day, all true born Englishmen - regardless of race, creed, colour or religion - will forsake all other claims upon his loyalty and will once more proclaim "I am born of the greatest nation on Earth! I am English!"