tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post1564823502586821673..comments2024-02-06T16:17:25.826+00:00Comments on THE GRØNMARK BLOG: Corbyn, the MP for Absurdistan, is happy to belt out "The Red Flag" but refuses to sing "God Save the Queen" Scott Gronmarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-3171144843346140362015-09-22T00:00:27.133+01:002015-09-22T00:00:27.133+01:00England Your England is Part I of Orwell's lon...<a href="http://orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_eye" rel="nofollow"><i>England Your England</i></a> is Part I of Orwell's long essay/short book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lion-Unicorn-Socialism-English-Genius/dp/0140063277/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1442858932&sr=8-2&keywords=the+lion+and+the+unicorn+george+orwell" rel="nofollow"><i>The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius</i></a>. I'm very glad you enjoyed it, SDG. It was the advent of Corbyn that reminded me of EYE, obviously, and that closely observed "querulous" impotence of the left-wing ideologue. But I couldn't remember much else and had a re-read before getting back to you.<br /><br />I'd forgotten about Orwell's distinction between naval power nations and land power ones. Sounds clever. Someone else not I can do the PhD.<br /><br />The pre-eminence of patriotism, English gentleness, hypocrisy is vital, ... nothing prepares you for the juvenile <a href="http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_saw" rel="nofollow"><i>Shopkeepers at War</i></a> (Part II) and <a href="http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_ter" rel="nofollow"><i>The English Revolution</i></a> (Part III), you wouldn't know they were written by the same man.<br /><br />The war is an opportunity, apparently, for revolution. We can get rid of all the useless rich people, no poor people are useless, planned economies work, <i>laissez-faire</i> capitalism is dead and Franco didn't really win: "Compared with the task of bringing the real England to the surface, even the winning of the war, necessary though it is, is secondary. By revolution we become more ourselves, not less". Querulous.David Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12345636878071983416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-3567647481220720632015-09-18T16:56:21.529+01:002015-09-18T16:56:21.529+01:00It's a shame Orwell went to Eton. If he hadn&#...It's a shame Orwell went to Eton. If he hadn't, I suspect it would never have occurred to him to become a socialist. I see from this week's Spectator that the excellent left-wing Nick Cohen has finally turned his back on the Labour Party, and I'd be surprised if Rod Liddle hadn't done so by the next general election - they'll never be Conservatives, but they both belong somewhere on the lively, sceptical, practical, right-wing end of the political spectrum, where Douglas Murray currently resides. Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-53705602313892389392015-09-18T16:48:48.747+01:002015-09-18T16:48:48.747+01:00What confuses me about Billy Bragg (his hypocrisy ...What confuses me about Billy Bragg (his hypocrisy is taken as read) is where did he get enough money to buy an enormous house on the Jurassic Coast? He's never sold many records and I can't believe his live appearances are particularly well attended, or that he would feel comfortable charging high ticket prices. Besides, being a compassionate socialist and lover of humanity, wouldn't he have given his money to good left-wing causes and his various pet victim groups rather than spend it so lavishly on his own comforts? Anyway, having seen photographs of his estate, the good thing is that he could offer homes to at least 40 Syrian refugees - probably more - and has no doubt already done so. Scott Gronmarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15118026157459333174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-11388358450113411602015-09-17T16:54:04.235+01:002015-09-17T16:54:04.235+01:00I have never read Orwell's essay. It is brilli...I have never read Orwell's essay. It is brilliant. Thank you very much David Moss for providing the link.SDGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-80334731316210706782015-09-16T23:41:54.457+01:002015-09-16T23:41:54.457+01:00More to the point, Billy Bragg has an unpleasantly...More to the point, Billy Bragg has an unpleasantly whining nasal voice, a ploddingly Play-in-a-Day strum by numbers guitar technique and writes teenage agitprop songs with lyrics that read like an International Times editorial from the 1960s.ex-KCSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-4983887293847380612015-09-16T20:31:08.762+01:002015-09-16T20:31:08.762+01:00For me the really irritating thing about Comrade C...For me the really irritating thing about Comrade Corbyn is that he chose to sing The Red Flag with Billy Bragg. Billy has been spouting left wing drivel for nearly as long as Jeremy. At the drop of a hat he will talk about the benefits of mass immigration and the evils of Conservative governments. However, for some reason known only to himself, he chooses to live in leafy Dorset, a beautiful county that is almost exclusively white and hasn't had any socialist representation in its history. I can't understand why he doesn't move back to east London with its rich and diverse ethnic mix and its plethora of socialist councils and Labour MP's. <br />It's baffling.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00839005575027842615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2215553202978284468.post-65340561614020548162015-09-15T19:45:12.476+01:002015-09-15T19:45:12.476+01:00No prizes for recognising who wrote:
In left-wing...No prizes for recognising <a href="http://orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_eye" rel="nofollow">who wrote</a>:<br /><br /><i>In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box ...</i>David Mosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12345636878071983416noreply@blogger.com