By BAGEHOT
A RESTAURANT critic for the New York Occasions informs us that, on returning to London after a ten-year absence, he was astonished to find that the native eating places have moved past “porridge and boiled mutton”. Robert Draper has been extensively mocked for this nonsense. What subsequent on his listing of fantastic discoveries? That kings can not behead individuals at will? That not all Britons stay in castles? That fits of armour have fallen out of favour? However Mr Draper is just not alone: I’ve seen a current surge in American-sourced gibberish about Britain. This garbage is bipartisan: the left and the suitable are equally responsible. And it’s pushed by the identical psychological drive: the will to mission your individual fears onto the handy (English-speaking) canvas that’s Britain. However the two sides mission precisely the alternative fears onto Britain: the left argues that it’s falling aside as a result of it’s rejecting globalisation whereas the suitable worries that it’s falling aside as a result of it’s too eager on globalisation.
The New York Occasions has run a collection of articles on the evils of Brexit Britain. Britain is split into two nations—a rich south and a Dickensian north. The nation voted to depart the European Union out of a match of racism-tinged nostalgia. Britain is not a “courageous galleon, banners waving, trumpets blaring”, as Steven Erlanger wrote in his farewell to the nation that had been his house for 2 lengthy spells as a overseas correspondent. As a substitute, it’s “a modest-sized ship on the worldwide ocean”.
Having voted to depart the European Union, it’s unmoored, heading to nowhere, whereas on deck, fireplace has damaged out and the captain—poor Theresa Might—is lashed to the mast, with out the authority to resolve whether or not to show to port or to starboard, not to mention do what one imagines she is aware of can be greatest, which is to show round and head again to shore.
I believe Brexit is a colossal mistake—and a colossal mistake, furthermore, that displays all kinds of deeper issues with the nation, not least the focus of financial exercise within the south-east. However there’s additionally some excellent news: Britain has a number of the lowest unemployment in Europe (and has been sucking in individuals from overseas for years); Britain has seen assist for the far-right United Kingdom Independence Get together fall at a time when assist for different European far-right events has been surging; Britons discover time to attend literary festivals, pop festivals and even eating places between rounds of self-flagellation.
If the left specialises in despair, the suitable specialises in terror. The Drudge Report incessantly hyperlinks to articles that target the sphincter-tightening aspect of British life. There’s the epidemic of knife crimes that has left the streets of London (and different cities) foaming with a lot blood. There’s the rise of “no-go areas”, the place the authorities concern to tread and sharia legislation holds sway. Steve Emerson, Fox Information’s terrorism skilled, even instructed the community that “there are precise cities like Birmingham which can be completely Muslim, the place non-Muslims simply merely don’t go in”. The city of Rotherham has certainly endured an appalling grooming scandal the place a gang of primarily Pakistani males preyed on teenage white women. However anybody who enters America’s right-wing media world learns that Britain is ruled by a bunch of politically right ninnies who’re permitting giant chunks of the nation’s cities to be run by Muslim fanatics/grooming gangs/knife-wielding yardies.
The plain retort to that is—how dare you! Britain’s issues with dysfunction are insignificant in contrast with America’s. Knife crime is a major problem, however pales into insignificance beside American gun crime. The worst elements of British cities are safer than the worst elements of American cities. However that hasn’t stopped main People from embracing the Britain-as-catastrophe argument. Donald Trump, who has a voracious urge for food for right-wing media, reportedly raised the issue of “no-go areas” throughout a dialog with Theresa Might. He additionally instructed this 12 months’s annual assembly of the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation that knife crime in London, “which has unbelievably robust gun legal guidelines” is so unhealthy {that a} prestigious London hospital, “proper within the center”, is now like a “conflict zone for horrible stabbing wounds…there’s blood all around the flooring of this hospital”. Mr Trump then stabbed the air a number of instances and muttered “knives, knives, knives”. Throughout Mr Trump’s go to to Britain’s knife capital two months later the American embassy stoked People’ fears by issuing a journey advisory, urging its residents to “train warning if unexpectedly within the neighborhood of enormous gatherings that will turn into violent”.
The issue is two-sided. The British media focuses overwhelmingly on the darkish aspect of America: the prevalence of gun crime; the devastation of the Rust Belt; the truth that some People are idiotic sufficient to consider in God. Britain has produced a species of journalist—step ahead Sacha Baron Cohen and Louis Theroux—that concentrate on poking enjoyable at People (and taking grotesque benefit of their politeness). I’m positive loads of British variations of the hapless Mr Draper have written articles marvelling at the truth that you should buy issues apart from McDonalds in America’s huge cities if you happen to strive actually exhausting.
The to-ing and fro-ing of nonsense throughout the Atlantic raises an even bigger level about journalism: if journalists can’t be relied upon to get their shut cousins proper—that’s nations with which they share a typical language and a typical tradition—how can they be trusted to get extra unique nations proper? Journalists have at all times indulged in projection: stringing unfastened generalisations collectively to supply a phrase image that tells you extra concerning the anxieties of the author than it does concerning the topic that’s being written about. However this downside is way worse within the age of the web. Aggregation websites solely choose up essentially the most excessive articles. And readers of aggregation websites repair on these articles as proofs of their primary prejudices—that the revolt towards globalisation is destroying a once-great nation or that Muslim gangs are tearing Britain aside.
