On the subject of English Americans,my favourite scene from a prettyaverage film is an old mafia dude trying to call out his WASP CIA handler and getting his arse handed to him:
Joseph Palmi: Let me ask you something... we Italians, we got our families, and we got the church; the Irish, they have the homeland, Jews their tradition; even the n****s, they got their music. What about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?
Edward Wilson: The United States of America. The rest of you are just visiting
On Mamdani and co. I always found progressive Muslims in the West—especially college-degree holders—to be a source of; frustration, endless jokes about their imagined victimhood, but I couldn’t at times suppress my admiration for their efforts to interpret Islam in a way that can be inclusive towards communities such as gays and lesbians!
Now, there is no Vatican in Islam, no central authority, no CCP, which means that it’s open to diverse interpretations and sociopolitical expressions! From genocidal, crazed, ultra patriarchal, hyper-angry expressions, to transcendental, Sufi dancing and wine drinking ones!
And because Islam is the second biggest religion in the world, a religion that didn’t submit fully -yet- to the forces of post-modernism and secularization, this means that we all feel its tumultuous inner struggles!
As Zaineb Riboua rightly observed, most Gulf Arabs, at least the ones who follow US politics, (and there are hundreds of thousands of Gulfies who were educated in the states) felt instinctively that there is something deeply off with Mamdani’s ‘aura’ and messaging! This comes in sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s big man attitude towards power, money-making and women.
Take for example, Trump’s pride in his ‘beautiful’ kids who carry his ‘precious genes’—this is music to people’s ears here! It’s not that Gulf Arabs love vulgarity, but they genuinely like the honest and uncompromising Trumpian approach towards the nicest things life can offer!
I also think lots of people here do like Trump’s unfiltered, brazen, and at times big-hearted exchanges with his foes! For example, his patting Mamdani on the shoulders, telling him that it was alright to call him a fascist, was hugely commented upon and laughed at.
It seems Trump is still -at heart- a white American boy from the 1950s, who wasn't touched by the revolutionary spirit of the 60s and 70s! He simply likes masculinity; he’s at peace with it, and feels at ease with men from cultures that put a high premium on strength and high status!
I saw this amusing comment regarding "centrism" as a reply to a Nathan Cofnas post:
""Centrism" is just fascinating to me as an etymological concept. Center of what? Who decides that? Is it sheer numbers on both sides or distance of beliefs that counts? How often is the position of the "center" recalibrated? In practice just an appeal to authority, but still"
Yes, that's a good point. "Centrism" implies the the political centre is a place, like Mecca, perhaps, and the Overton Window is the presumption that it's more like a centre of gravity in a moving body.
I'll stick to my idea that political positions are qualitative, not quantitive. You can't really be more right-wing than someone else, because there's no proper scale of right-wingness.
I think this may refer to the attempt by The Beatles to get the rights to Lord of The Rings to make a film version with themselves as cast members. Paul would play Frodo and John to play Gollum apparently.
"I wonder if 1776 will see a revival of English-American identity, and people will recall the words of William Bradford: ‘Our Fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in the wilderness, but they cried unto the Lord, and he heard this voice and looked on their adversities.’"
It's a little known fact that the modern "find your ancestry" industry first took off after the bicentennial of 1976 and the showing of "Roots" on television the following year. Roots was a miniseries based on a book on the history of black Americans and especially their experiences with slavery. At a time before cable TV (let alone satellite or streaming), there were only a handful of channels so large numbers of Americans watched it. In spite of the show's message of a need for "White America" to redeem itself for the historic crimes of racism and slavery (this was not long after a previous burst of what we would call "wokeness"), there was afterwards a huge burst of interest among White Americans seeking out their own "roots".
This is true in part. I think it was the realization that it might actually be possible to trace your ancestry back beyond your great-grandparents. But as early as the Sixties there began to be interest in one's ancestry and historical culture among people whose grandparents weren't from the Old Country. The first time my Irish-American mother ever served us corned beef and cabbage was St Patrick's Day in 1969.
The spike in non British US immigration in the late 19th century led to increased interest in genealogy among old stock British and Dutch Americans who wanted to make sure everyone knew they got there first. Regrettable in some ways, but very helpful if that's your background because of the research completed at that time.
"The British Right are more anti-immigration than their American equivalents,"
Then they're not really "equivalent," are they? They're just wearing similarly-colored t-shirts or something vibe-y.
"... and (more obviously) less socially conservative."
Then what do they really have in common, other than the label? If factions labelled "right" don't have the same ideology, we might as well call them the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes, because there's no more there, there than there is to sportball fandom.
Anti-immigration sentiment has shoved old style social conservatism aside here in the US too. The repeal of Roe vs Wade has not led to any sort of national level laws restricting abortion (Trump himself is opposed), and a recent attempt to get the Supreme Court to overturn the Oberfell decision (SSM) was slapped right down by all the justices except the increasingly isolated Clarence Thomas.
I'm not sure I agree. Transgenderism has been a great recruiting cause for the right, and made non-political people take a political side, but I also think transgenderism, being built on contradictions and lies, largely exploded itself. The Right was just there to take credit.
Number of migrants to the United States from Great Britain 1820-1957
Between 1820 and 1957, over 4.5 million people emigrated from Great Britain to the United States. The period with the highest levels of migration came during the 1860s, 70s and 80s, with almost 110 thousand people migrating in 1888 alone. The period with the lowest levels of migration came in the 1930s and early 40s, as the Great Depression caused an economic crisis across the globe, hitting the US and Great Britain particularly hard. Economic recovery in the late 1930s caused the migration rate to increase again, before the Second World War brought the numbers back down in the first half of the 1940s.
"I noticed an interesting development whereby more Americans are identifying as English."
That's one possibility. Another is that the US (and Britain to an extent) is undergoing a process of "ethnification", as happened in the former Yugoslavia, whereby ethnic identity becomes more important than civic identity as ethnic interest groups come to dominate politics.
Britain is still quite left-wing economically, but moving to the right culturally, at least among the majority of the public. However, this isn't necessarily reflected in the elite: for that to change significantly Reform would probably need to get a strong majority in Parliament, which looks quite likely.
As many have said, we've moved from peak wokeness to some kind of late-Soviet vibe, where no one really takes wokeness seriously (except the die-hard zealots), but people performatively continue the charade for reasons of conformism and social self-preservation.
A worrying possibility though is we end up with a right-wing government that is just as economically inept and beholden to special interest groups as Labour. It may then find itself discredited as well.
We really do need economic "Reform", but the problem is that the division of interest groups makes this very difficult politically. The old may be culturally right-wing, but will defend their generous benefits and house building restrictions. The young may be happy to cut the entitlements of the elderly , but are largely opposed to social conservatism and also often free market capitalism, which they have not seen the benefits of or been educated about.
The socially conservative reformists like me, who wish for both cultural reform and reform of the welfare state, are a small and unpopular group of people who are left to pick their poison.
Re: It’s an almost perfect example of a welfare system creating perverse incentives and outcomes.
I don't know about perverse incentives, but a system designed with the notion that people are honest is a system that will attract and enable all sorts of fraud and con-mannery. I don't know the specifics of Minnestota social services but sounds to me like it should be more secure and keep Mikhail Gorbachev's advice in mind: "Trust but verify".
Re: It’s a funny line, except that almost all of Benchley’s family in fact came from Britain, even if they were mostly from Wales or from the Border folk.
About half of my ancestry was British (English, Scotch and Scotch-Irish). The other half was German, with a possible Native American in the mix. I wonder if surveys of ancestry allow for such almost evenly mixed ancestry. I am however one of those people who, if asked "What are you" will answer "American". (People should ask about my ancestry, not me, if that's what they want to know).
"I wonder if 1776 will see a revival of English-American identity..."
Speaking as a sort-of Englishman, I do wonder if our problems would be improved by becoming the 51st State. We'd get to be top dog again, without having to move house.
On the subject of English Americans,my favourite scene from a prettyaverage film is an old mafia dude trying to call out his WASP CIA handler and getting his arse handed to him:
Joseph Palmi: Let me ask you something... we Italians, we got our families, and we got the church; the Irish, they have the homeland, Jews their tradition; even the n****s, they got their music. What about you people, Mr. Wilson, what do you have?
Edward Wilson: The United States of America. The rest of you are just visiting
yes, love that line. I think I've even used it in a post.
On Mamdani and co. I always found progressive Muslims in the West—especially college-degree holders—to be a source of; frustration, endless jokes about their imagined victimhood, but I couldn’t at times suppress my admiration for their efforts to interpret Islam in a way that can be inclusive towards communities such as gays and lesbians!
Now, there is no Vatican in Islam, no central authority, no CCP, which means that it’s open to diverse interpretations and sociopolitical expressions! From genocidal, crazed, ultra patriarchal, hyper-angry expressions, to transcendental, Sufi dancing and wine drinking ones!
And because Islam is the second biggest religion in the world, a religion that didn’t submit fully -yet- to the forces of post-modernism and secularization, this means that we all feel its tumultuous inner struggles!
As Zaineb Riboua rightly observed, most Gulf Arabs, at least the ones who follow US politics, (and there are hundreds of thousands of Gulfies who were educated in the states) felt instinctively that there is something deeply off with Mamdani’s ‘aura’ and messaging! This comes in sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s big man attitude towards power, money-making and women.
Take for example, Trump’s pride in his ‘beautiful’ kids who carry his ‘precious genes’—this is music to people’s ears here! It’s not that Gulf Arabs love vulgarity, but they genuinely like the honest and uncompromising Trumpian approach towards the nicest things life can offer!
I also think lots of people here do like Trump’s unfiltered, brazen, and at times big-hearted exchanges with his foes! For example, his patting Mamdani on the shoulders, telling him that it was alright to call him a fascist, was hugely commented upon and laughed at.
yes, and his interactions with the new Syrian president are genuinely warming: 'attractive, tough guy'. al-Sharra obviously was flattered!
It seems Trump is still -at heart- a white American boy from the 1950s, who wasn't touched by the revolutionary spirit of the 60s and 70s! He simply likes masculinity; he’s at peace with it, and feels at ease with men from cultures that put a high premium on strength and high status!
I saw this amusing comment regarding "centrism" as a reply to a Nathan Cofnas post:
""Centrism" is just fascinating to me as an etymological concept. Center of what? Who decides that? Is it sheer numbers on both sides or distance of beliefs that counts? How often is the position of the "center" recalibrated? In practice just an appeal to authority, but still"
https://x.com/passageatarms/status/1890774918515613899
Yes, that's a good point. "Centrism" implies the the political centre is a place, like Mecca, perhaps, and the Overton Window is the presumption that it's more like a centre of gravity in a moving body.
I'll stick to my idea that political positions are qualitative, not quantitive. You can't really be more right-wing than someone else, because there's no proper scale of right-wingness.
Indeed. I consider myself a "moderate" but not a "centrist" for that very reason.
You should do a list of most surprising feuds: Dominic Sandbrook v Eugene McCarthy; Tolkien v the Beatles; Malcolm Muggeridge v Monty Python.
Tolkien v the Beatles? Hadn't heard of that one. Led Zeppelin, surely?
I think this may refer to the attempt by The Beatles to get the rights to Lord of The Rings to make a film version with themselves as cast members. Paul would play Frodo and John to play Gollum apparently.
Congratulations on the success of your stack!! I enjoy it.
thank you!
"I wonder if 1776 will see a revival of English-American identity, and people will recall the words of William Bradford: ‘Our Fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in the wilderness, but they cried unto the Lord, and he heard this voice and looked on their adversities.’"
It's a little known fact that the modern "find your ancestry" industry first took off after the bicentennial of 1976 and the showing of "Roots" on television the following year. Roots was a miniseries based on a book on the history of black Americans and especially their experiences with slavery. At a time before cable TV (let alone satellite or streaming), there were only a handful of channels so large numbers of Americans watched it. In spite of the show's message of a need for "White America" to redeem itself for the historic crimes of racism and slavery (this was not long after a previous burst of what we would call "wokeness"), there was afterwards a huge burst of interest among White Americans seeking out their own "roots".
I did not know that.
I learned in this fact in one class in archiving as well as a book by Rick Perlstein.
This is true in part. I think it was the realization that it might actually be possible to trace your ancestry back beyond your great-grandparents. But as early as the Sixties there began to be interest in one's ancestry and historical culture among people whose grandparents weren't from the Old Country. The first time my Irish-American mother ever served us corned beef and cabbage was St Patrick's Day in 1969.
The spike in non British US immigration in the late 19th century led to increased interest in genealogy among old stock British and Dutch Americans who wanted to make sure everyone knew they got there first. Regrettable in some ways, but very helpful if that's your background because of the research completed at that time.
"the similarities of the two political cultures is often underplayed, just as that between Britain and the US is overplayed."
Keep these coming, Ed. There were a lot of good lines in this one, but that was my favourite.
I didn’t realise that the Icelandics were the most avid readers in the world. Im guessing this must have something to do with the weather?
apparently they average 2.5 books per month on average!
I presume that's the main factor, but literacy is just very deeply imbedded, I think they've had high rates for centuries.
Interesting “arc” for Vikings!!🤣🤣🤣
"The British Right are more anti-immigration than their American equivalents,"
Then they're not really "equivalent," are they? They're just wearing similarly-colored t-shirts or something vibe-y.
"... and (more obviously) less socially conservative."
Then what do they really have in common, other than the label? If factions labelled "right" don't have the same ideology, we might as well call them the Hoosiers and the Buckeyes, because there's no more there, there than there is to sportball fandom.
Anti-immigration sentiment has shoved old style social conservatism aside here in the US too. The repeal of Roe vs Wade has not led to any sort of national level laws restricting abortion (Trump himself is opposed), and a recent attempt to get the Supreme Court to overturn the Oberfell decision (SSM) was slapped right down by all the justices except the increasingly isolated Clarence Thomas.
Agreed, but I would say the American Right has pushed back very hard against transgenderism and been successful.
You're right, or at least partially so, about that.
I'm not sure I agree. Transgenderism has been a great recruiting cause for the right, and made non-political people take a political side, but I also think transgenderism, being built on contradictions and lies, largely exploded itself. The Right was just there to take credit.
Number of migrants to the United States from Great Britain 1820-1957
Between 1820 and 1957, over 4.5 million people emigrated from Great Britain to the United States. The period with the highest levels of migration came during the 1860s, 70s and 80s, with almost 110 thousand people migrating in 1888 alone. The period with the lowest levels of migration came in the 1930s and early 40s, as the Great Depression caused an economic crisis across the globe, hitting the US and Great Britain particularly hard. Economic recovery in the late 1930s caused the migration rate to increase again, before the Second World War brought the numbers back down in the first half of the 1940s.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1044929/migration-great-britain-to-us-1820-1957/
Published by D. Clark, Nov 28, 2025
Irish immigration was 4.6 million for the same period.
"I noticed an interesting development whereby more Americans are identifying as English."
That's one possibility. Another is that the US (and Britain to an extent) is undergoing a process of "ethnification", as happened in the former Yugoslavia, whereby ethnic identity becomes more important than civic identity as ethnic interest groups come to dominate politics.
Britain is still quite left-wing economically, but moving to the right culturally, at least among the majority of the public. However, this isn't necessarily reflected in the elite: for that to change significantly Reform would probably need to get a strong majority in Parliament, which looks quite likely.
As many have said, we've moved from peak wokeness to some kind of late-Soviet vibe, where no one really takes wokeness seriously (except the die-hard zealots), but people performatively continue the charade for reasons of conformism and social self-preservation.
A worrying possibility though is we end up with a right-wing government that is just as economically inept and beholden to special interest groups as Labour. It may then find itself discredited as well.
We really do need economic "Reform", but the problem is that the division of interest groups makes this very difficult politically. The old may be culturally right-wing, but will defend their generous benefits and house building restrictions. The young may be happy to cut the entitlements of the elderly , but are largely opposed to social conservatism and also often free market capitalism, which they have not seen the benefits of or been educated about.
The socially conservative reformists like me, who wish for both cultural reform and reform of the welfare state, are a small and unpopular group of people who are left to pick their poison.
Off-topic: not sure if already posted, but this account of GPs and fit notes is enlightening:
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/britains-hooked-on-fit-notes-gps-like-me-feel-like-we-cant-say-no-bp90w06jr
These really are my favourite posts of yours, Ed. Always intelligent, always readable, I always learn something.
And as you claim I am a member of your elite, I feel I can overlook the prospect of more of your American travelogue!
Sorry to learn of the death of Peter Whittle though. I remember him from UKIP conferences.
Re: It’s an almost perfect example of a welfare system creating perverse incentives and outcomes.
I don't know about perverse incentives, but a system designed with the notion that people are honest is a system that will attract and enable all sorts of fraud and con-mannery. I don't know the specifics of Minnestota social services but sounds to me like it should be more secure and keep Mikhail Gorbachev's advice in mind: "Trust but verify".
Re: It’s a funny line, except that almost all of Benchley’s family in fact came from Britain, even if they were mostly from Wales or from the Border folk.
About half of my ancestry was British (English, Scotch and Scotch-Irish). The other half was German, with a possible Native American in the mix. I wonder if surveys of ancestry allow for such almost evenly mixed ancestry. I am however one of those people who, if asked "What are you" will answer "American". (People should ask about my ancestry, not me, if that's what they want to know).
"I wonder if 1776 will see a revival of English-American identity..."
Speaking as a sort-of Englishman, I do wonder if our problems would be improved by becoming the 51st State. We'd get to be top dog again, without having to move house.