Whigged Out
On his Remnant podcast last week, Jonah Goldberg hosted the self-identifying Whig and former UK Conservative Party Member of European Parliament Daniel Hannan. The podcast episode as well as the supplemental podcast links are found at The Dispatch news site here. It was a sprawling interview, as usual for Jonah, in part covering the present-day state of conservatism in the trans-Atlantic Anglosphere.
In one part, Hannan described how the American protests over George Floyd’s killing at the hands of Minneapolis police in May of 2020 jumped across the Atlantic to the UK. The raging mobs were shouting at the traditionally unarmed British police, “Don’t shoot!” which made no sense.
What the UK protesters were angry about had little to do with the UK system, past or present, other than in the minds of the protesters. The more violent protester activities included assaults on statues and monuments of figures and events unrelated to the American history of slavery, the U.S. Civil War, the Jim Crow laws that arose in the former Confederate states, or George Floyd’s unhappy demise. Hannan further explained how several other ideas that might work as obsessions in the American context have been transplanted to the UK with little regard for their poor fit.
My view of the wholesale adoption of the grievances is that American media are simply very large, very loud, and freely accessible outside the United States. Whatever obsesses America spills over into the rest of the world, and gets picked up with minimal modification in societies with very different histories and traditions. It’s a form of social contagion accelerated by modern mass media and viral online social media.
It also seems to me that there are enough people too little to do in their lives to give them a sense of purpose, and these hypothetical people sometimes work themselves into an enraged mob on the lookout for a greater cause. As we’ve seen in other angry protests in recent years, the lowest-common denominator for each cause has ultimately been nihilism. It’s a manifestation of Martin Gurri’s Revolt of the Public. “We don’t know what we want, but we really, really want everyone to know how violently opposed we are to the present state of affairs,” the angered mob seems to be saying.
In the context of Eric Hoffer’s ideas presented earlier this week, there was plainly fertile ground in the imaginations of the UK protesters, at least, for the ideas to take root and blossom into a bouquet of mindless violence. What was the end result? Maybe a lot of cleanup work in vandalized public spaces? Did anyone feel they had accomplished much afterwards?
Going over the top and also not far enough. This is about The Kiss following Spain's victory in the Women's World Cup recently. In case you didn't hear, the president of the Spain's soccer federation spontaneously kissed one of the players on the lips in celebration.
Calls for his resignation are over the top. Can no one make a mistake without losing a job? This was foolish, out of bounds and lots of things, but should he be forced to resign?
On the other hand, he has not only refused to resign but also to apologize, as far as I know. Now, I don't care for public apologies because, in this case for example, he didn't kiss the public and this is all being played out in public. If he owes an apology, it is to her and he should offer it. I only wonder if the two of them talked and if she was okay with what was said -- none of my business exactly what he said. If Ms Hermoso is okay, what's the fuss? If she is not, why not call him directly and get his response directly? Why can't he say, "I spoke with Ms. Hermoso and she can tell you about it if she so chooses" and then go grocery shopping or whatever else he has to do?
I oftentimes find myself with little to do these days. Getting involved in a “cause” is the last thing on my radar. I’ll do yoga, play with the dogs, or call a friend.