Talk:Merry England/Archive 1

---

More broadly   beyond  the  merely  mass  sentimental  vision  of  people  who  live in commuter  estates  with  pseudo-cottage  additions  that  take  up  their  nine  foot  sqaure garden  anyway  current believers can  be  divided  ideologically  between  left  and  right. The right-wing actually believe that  the  Murdoch  driven or inspired  right-wing hacks  of  the  current  day  press  are  sincere  when they invoke village green cricket matches, fixed term  sentancing and lowering the daily train fare  to  Margate  to  a  'reasonable'  500  pounds. They think  they  are  participants  on  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  when  they  read  some  hack  poking  fun  at  female lesbian  vicars  who  believe  that  transcribed  Lionel  Ritchie  songs  make  a  fairly  good  theology. In reality  their  hypocritcal  invocation  of  the  golden  past  is  really  the  desire  to  turn  Britain  into  a neo-colonial  and  somewhat  colder  and  less sunny  version  of  a  mix  of  Queensland  and  Florida. This is  the  current  chief  conservative  use  of  the  idea  of  Merry  England.

The chief  aim  of  those  manipulating  little  England  and  Merry  England sentiment  is  to  try  to stop  Britain  entering  into  its  ancient true Merry England  heritage  of closer interconnection  with  Western Europe. G. K. Chesteron pointed  out  a  long  time  ago  that  Western  Europe  is  the  ultimate  destination  of  Merry  Engalnd - not  little  England. The neo-conservative  manipulators  of  the  idea  of  Merry  England  want to  see a  country  dominated  by  a  class  of  neo-cons  emulating  the  mores  of  the  elite  of  the  sun-belt  of  the  USA. There is  no  room  for  a  genuine  Merry  England  in  this  agenda.

The current left  wing  version  is   even  worse, insofar  as  it  hysterically rejects as  neo-fascism any compromise  with  those  who  point  out  that  villages, rural  life, stable  and  long-term  values  are  of  necessity  based  on  large  families, majority hetrosexuality,  boring  long  hard  days  indispersed  with  often  boring, childish  but  also  genuinely  traditional festivals (like a  family Christmas (or should I say Ephiphany) cheese rolling, very  bloody football  matches  and  I'm  afraid  3  hour  church  services  with  often not that well-done music or other goings on.

There has still been a  rapid and ongoing depopulation of rural Western Europe even with the subsidies and the relatively better opportunities they have  had  there to live off  the land and enjoy a genuinely complex local life while  having  access  to infrastrucure that  makes  present  day  England  third  world  by  comparision. This points out that most people now (as in the Middle Ages when they got half a chance) prefer plastic  food, banal  repetitive mass entertainment, and  an otherwise shallow sentiment  driven  existence. Human nature  inevitably  draws  most  people (when  they  have  the  choice) to  choose an  almost morbid  self-absorbtion  in  life  draining  routines which  substitute for the life of considered reflection and self-awareness that comes from long hard days of long hard work and long  hard play lived out in the countryside.

If this were not so in the days of Merry England then why were so many town dwellers the first to take up lifestyles, attitudes and beliefs such as the self-absorbed individualism of Wycliffism, Protestantism and Puritanism? Or later  on  adopt the really quite shallow lifestyles and attitudes which the genius of the great Jacobean dramatists  and the retailers of stories of urban life in 16th, 17th and 18th century England  depict? Shakespeare, Marlowe, Congreve, Sheridan, and Patmore often hide  from  us,  due  to their creative genuius, the actual grubby reality that really lay behind the disease, the street gangs, the regular rioting, the concentrated exposure to fraud, injustice and the constant upheaval and  change which generated the  Merry England  myth  (in its later forms) to help all this go away.

Merry England is just as badly served  by  the  post Tolkein inspired generation- the children of the flower children or children  of  those who weren't flower children but who actually still think  rock and pop music has something to say - other than buy me and make several thousand ageing band members and a few hundred others added  to  their  ranks  every  year very happy people.

Merry England is  normally  not  explicitly  invoked  by  the  children  of  the  disapointed  left  but  it is  still  there  lurking  as  an  impromptu muffler  bandage  on  their  1978  Volkswagon  with  its fake  stick on labels  proclaiming  this newer generation's pose-views  of  saying they support  'alternative  lifestyles'. Or Merry  England  is  one  of  the occasionally  played  CD's  in  the  selector pile in  the  1998  Audi  of  the  employed  version  of  animal liberationists, anti-nuclear  activists, by-pass  activists,  anti-hunt activists, etc.,. Remember good  old  Tom  Good of  the  Good  Life? He put  on  a Vaughn  Williams  record  when  he  wanted to  really  get  close  to  Merry  England.

Merry England's ultimate misuse is in  the  form  of  some updated  ideology  ridden  version  shorn  of  conservative  resonanace  lurking  behind  those  who just will not admit that mass production of the life drained vegetables they force down your throat if you go over to their 'share house' (or  their  half  million  pound  rabbit  hutch  with  views  over  the  River) for a 'roast' is  just  as  bad  really  as eating  meat produced  by  factory  farming. Mass urban  lifestyles  of  any  kind require  some  compromise  with  Merry  England's  ultimate  vision  and  so  what -thats  just  being realistic. Realistic compromise is required  over all the  various  agendas  of  left, right, centre, alternative, radical eco, and  radical,  neo-con  or  even  just sitting waiting  for  the  gyro  and/or  the  whole  range  of  other  approaches  -good, bad  and  neutral  we  now  have  to  pretend  we  tolerate. (All of  us  don't  tolerate something)

Merry England  requires lots  of  drinking  of  good  honest  ale, mead  and cider (and  if  in  the  appropriate  region  additional  distilled  drinks  and  sausage  meat produced  hopefully  away  from  the  ken of  the bureaucrats  and  tax  persons). It requires lots  of  other  things  done  in  lots  of  contexts  not  associated  with  the  pathetic  mass-cultural invocation of the avante-garde  that 'young'and 'free' people have been told  is  the  only way  they  can  really  enjoy  life - ever  since  the  bored  and  exploitative  upper  middle  class  (people  like  Shelley) began  to  tell  them  this  was  so.

Maybe, just maybe  something  of  the  actual  way  of  life  that  needs  to  be  led  to  experience  Merry  England  will  be  discovered  by the  baby  boom  generation  once  they  actually  retire  full-time to  their  retirement  house  or  flat. Merry England  will appear almost  in  fulfillment  of  Chesterton's prophecy  of  Little England's  vanishing  by  the  sheer  force  of  the  better  way  of  'living' life  Catholic  Europe  has  always  experienced.

So that Merry  England  will  finally  germinate  as  an  idea within  the  rather tawdry villas  and  flats along  the  Mediterranean. (Hopefully yours does  have  several  large  balconies  that  really  almost are  'terraces'). Merry England  might  flower  among  the  retired  English  in  France, Ireland  or  even  some  part  of  rural  England or  even  in a  half  way  decent  and still fairly  green  suburb  on  an  English urban  fringe. These genuinely  slowed  down  people  might  begin  to  draw  their  children  and  grandchildren  away  from  the  nightmare  Puritan  vision - which  we  English  spawned  when  we created  English speaking North America. A vision  which  is  as  equally un-Merry  England  in  its  various  alternative  visions- 'lets  be  secular' or 'lets  be  nice' or 'lets  be  naughty' or  'lets  be  Godly' and/or  'lets  be  anything  we  want  to  be.'

Merge/Delete/...

 * Merry England. Ideological rant.  RickK 01:46, 17 Aug 2003 (UTC)
 * While much of this stuff may be redundant to Deep England, a page that may have POV issues itself, I don't think it's irreformable. In fact, it might be preferable to have the Deep England material at Merry England, especially since, at least outside of the UK, few have heard the phrase "Deep England," but most everybody knows what kind of nostalgia is meant by "Merry England." -- IHCOYC 16:50, 17 Aug 2003 (UTC)
 * Ideological rant??? It sounds to me like a myth not unlike Arcadia, and it may be related to the "despise of court, praise of village" which is one of the important themes in 16-17th century literature. It would not be surprising if English romantic authors in the 19th century had used this myth... It seems consistent with the little I know about literature. Do not delete. -- Miguel
 * But it should be "Merrie" England. Deb 22:47, 21 Aug 2003 (UTC)