Steyn writes of one recent example of Britain's fall to self-loathing:
Somewhere along the way a quintessentially British sense of self-deprecation curdled into a psychologically unhealthy self-loathing. A typical foot-of-the-page news item from The Daily Telegraph:
A leading college at Cambridge University has renamed its controversial colonial-themed Empire Ball after accusations that it was “distasteful.” The £136-a-head Emmanuel College ball was advertised as a celebration of “the Victorian commonwealth and all of its decadences.
Students were urged to “party like it’s 1899” and organisers promised a trip through the Indian Raj, Australia, the West Indies, and 19th century Hong Kong.
But anti-fascist groups said the theme was “distasteful and insensitive” because of the British Empire’s historical association with slavery, repression and exploitation.
The Empire Ball Committee, led by presidents Richard Hilton and Jenny Unwin, has announced the word “empire” will be removed from all promotional material.
The way things are going in Britain, it would make more sense to remove the word “balls.”
That's the problem, isn't it? We're at the top of the world because of the Powerball we think we have won and inherited in the lottery of life, and mistakenly believe our good fortune is all just luck that won't end rather than relying on guts to defend our position.
I'm not as much of a pessimist as Steyn is about either our absolute or relative decline, but we do have problems we must face. And pessimists like Steyn are necessary if we are to rouse ourselves from complacency and get a pair.
