Catch up

The morning was spent on house-related chores. The afternoon on catching up on e-mail, laundry, etc. One of the things I enjoy here is reading The Guardian, a Manchester-based liberal newspaper. Today I read a very long piece about the problems of imposing Western liberal ideas about democracy and capitalism on the rest of the world. For former colonies, it is just another imperial power play. And its proponents ignore the Twentieth Century bloodletting that gave rise to Western democracies. Anyway, the piece included a quote from French philosopher Raymond Aron that I found interesting:

American individualism, the product of a short history of unrepeatable national success, in his view, “spreads unlimited optimism, denigrates the past, and encourages the adoption of institutions which are in themselves destructive of the collective unity”.

While Britain tries very hard to outdo America as a capitalist machine (excessive executive pay, bank bailouts, privatizing public services, etc.), it will have a hard time aligning with Aron's description. It tends more to humility and pessimism rather than optimism; it does not denigrate the past; and collective unity remains strong here. That's why Britain has nationalized health care. The politicians are trying to privatize more of the NHS but people are putting up a good fight. I hope they win.
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