A Glimpse of Freedom

The American people never cease to amaze me, after just two years of a socialist administration they have already rallied together and given Obama a swift kick in the arse.   Although the mid-term elections didn't quite swing as strongly as I had hoped, this feat has impressed me to no end.

In my country we have endured more than a decade of tax hikes, erosion of liberties and bewildering political incompetence without a peep from my fellow countrymen. Meanwhile our cousins across the pond have stolen more than 60 seats in the House of Representatives and 6 seats in the Senate; this took them just two years!

So why is it that US citizens have become so outraged in such a short space of time? Why have the British endured far worse and for so much longer, yet are still unwilling to make a change? After all England was the ideological birthplace which the United States was founded upon, is it really possible that we exported all our courage as well as our liberty on the Mayflower?

It is thanks to yesterdays midterms that I finally understand American patriotism.  At first I was bemused by the seemingly obnoxious flag waving, but it perfectly demonstrates the awareness of the American people; all that they have accomplished in their countries short history.  They have fought tooth and nail for their liberty, from the American Revolution, two World Wars and even as recently as the Cold War.   Although their history has not been perfect, the American people are fully aware of the founding principles of their country, what liberty is and why it is worth fighting for.

It is a great shame that the same cannot be said for my country of birth, where school history lessons are more concerned with the Roman Empire and Henry VIII than the Magna Carta, Treaty of Union or even the English Civil War.  Where political discussion is limited to how and who to tax, who to redistribute to, rather than whether the government even has a right to private wealth!  This is a country where questioning socialised healthcare is seen as political extremism, a nation where bleeding the successful to support the poor is not only acceptable but enforced by law and where government intervention is a first rather than last resort.

We have completely forgotten how long and hard fought our liberty and independence from authoritarian control was to obtain.   We have become so complacent with government that it is no longer our servant, but is now our master once more.  The attitude, education and awareness of politics in our two countries are polar opposites.  Whether or not these obstacles can be overcome, at least in my lifetime, is doubtful, however these midterm results should serve as an example to the British people; the tyranny of authoritarian government does not have to be a permanent scar on our country.