Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your
contribution is not tax-deductible.)
PayPal Acct: 
Feedback: 
Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):
| [ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, [2], 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: But of course... | |
Author: Paddy (Scotland) | [ Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
] Date Posted: 12:10:28 01/19/05 Wed In reply to: Andrew(Canada) 's message, "well..." on 20:39:59 01/18/05 Tue The "anglosphere" already exists and is easily noticable (unless it is a defined "movement" with a different definition to that that its name would suggest - please let me know if this is the case). I can travel to South Africa and I will have something in common with the inhabitants that I simply don't have with the average Russian or Frenchman. The same is true of India and many other places worldwide. It is a VERY vague concept and is true to wildly different extents & on many levels. In Jamaica & Singapore there is very strong "British" influence all over the places (manners, phrases, sports etc...) - even in the slums - while in PNG there is some British influence on the coast where the elite is based but move inland and there are tribes who still kill each other with bows and arrows and then eat each other - these people do not even know that there is a government at all on the Island let alone that the Queen is the head of state! Either way though, certainly there is something there & for this reason I would like to see free trade between the nations of the Commonwealth - it would be a natural thing. Perhaps I do not really have much in common with the average American. (Please forgive me but I call citizens of the USA Americans and citizens of the Dominion of Canada Canadians.) Most of the Americans I know are "old" Americans (meaning their families have been there for as long as they can remember). In fact most of the ones that I know are (have been) students in the UK and therefore must have been either pretty bright (scholarships) or pretty rich. I say this to emphasise that it is probable that my personal experiences with Americans are not typical. However it is undeniably true that often I have found more to talk about with these people than with my fellow compatriots. It is a fact that the British lap-up prolefeed from the USA - pop music, films etc... however where do you think that the Americans turn to for "high" culture? It is very much a two-way exchange. The show "Frasier" gets it just right - the two Crain Brothers affect the lifestyle of upper-class Englishmen - they crave fine Clarets, membership of gentlemen's clubs, good tailoring & Niles lives in an "English" style manor for much of the show. Daphne (the Mancunian house-keeper of Frasier for most of the many episodes) ends up marrying brother Niles and the English in-laws are embarrasingly quite the antithesis of the High culture that the two brothers aspire to. This culture exchange is very much real and not artificially engineered. I feel that we should push on and form our own CANZUK union regardless of the opinions of others. However in the near-impossible event that the USA should wish to join our union on our terms I would not say no (or yes) instinctively, but would think about it and examine the conditions at the time. I feel strongly that making our diplomacy merely to counteract the very strong influences of the USA makes us the poorer man. I am more interested in redefining the USA-CANZUK relationship than a Union between the two nations but am always open to new ideas and opinions. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |