Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Victoria Day Weekend











On Saturday I took in the military display at Fort Rodd Hill's 150th anniversary. On Sunday it was the Heeland Games in Victoria. And Monday, of course, our traditional Victoria Day Parade took place.
All three of these events owe their ancestry to our warlike past. Some people wish to disparage that past, but not me. Not everybody sees the point in a peaceful and prosperous society. When somebody within the community thinks it's clever to ignore the rules, then we call him a criminal and put him on trial. When a foreign power covets our prosperity and good order, we call it an enemy and make sure we are able to defend ourselves. That's what a military is for.
By nature, most boys are enthralled with weaponry. As soon as they learn to walk they pick up sticks to whack each other with, in exactly the same way young calves butt each other. They instinctively train for what they might have to do when they reach maturity, which is to defend the herd. Human society, being vastly more complex than bovine society, must channel this masculine behaviour so that it remains at the service of the community and doesn't turn inward to our harm. One of the reasons that the culture of the West has been so dynamic and creative is because we have also been good at providing a protective environment so it can grow and flourish. The civilization that Rome bequeathed to us, for instance, would have been impossible without the Roman army protecting its borders, and the Roman navy keeping the Mediterranean Sea safe for trade. In the 19th century the British Navy opened the sea lanes of the world for trade, and in the twentieth the US Navy has taken on that role. We take it so much for granted that we rarely think about it.
Our well- being depends on the willingness of young men to fight and die for their countries, and our military tradition has done a fine job of preparing them for the grim task. Unfortunately, our worst enemies are now inside the protective wall our military has established. Sometimes those enemies are filled with malice, but mostly they are just ignorant and stupid. Instead of attacking our military defences, which are virtually unassailable, they undermine our will to fight. They do this by teaching us to be ashamed of our history and our achievements. One of their great successes has been to denigrate the masculine virtues, and teaching boys that their natural inclinations are wrong.
One result is a generation of young men who prowl the streets picking up cigarette butts and doing whatever drugs they can get their hands on. Fort Rodd Hill, the Highland Games, and the Victoria Day Parade remind us of what we are in danger of losing. There is a good reason why we all enjoy that kind of pageantry. There is a good reason why the sound of the war pipes is so thrilling.

This just in by way of Number Watch-

UK Election Results

Party

Seats

Green (Liberal branch)

57

Green (Labour branch)

258

Green (Dave’s branch)

306

Celtic fringe etc

28

Green (Main branch)

1

UKIP

0

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