The United Kingdom shamelessly prostrated itself at the feet of Donald Trump on Wednesday, throwing a lavish welcoming party for his state visit to Windsor that resembled less diplomacy and more fealty.
In doing so, the U.K. has revealed something deeply unflattering about itself—in the scramble to keep America close, it will debase itself and its values completely.
It will silence dissent, empty out its traditions, and rent out its monarch like a sex worker, deployed to flatter the ego of a man who has spent much of his political life suggesting he should be treated like one, a monarch, not a sex worker, that is.
As stage props go, the monarchy is unbeatable. But if this is what the “special relationship” between the U.S and the U.K. now means, it looks to many in Britain less like a partnership and more like groveling, feudal servitude.
archive article: https://archive.is/DxOAv
If there’s one thing the UK is good at, it’s making rich people feel important. It’s how all those Russian oligarchs feel so comfortable in London, comfortable enough to spill their secrets. Nobody suspects the butler, nobody suspects that behind the pomp and ceremony there’s a knife waiting for you.
Trump likes to be flattered, so flatter him, and then get as much cash out of the US as possible! $150bn investment so far as a result of this little bit of pageantry, since all those tech companies are now dancing to Trump’s tune.
From my experience living there for over a decade, including meeting some people from the landed wealth, such warm welcomes to the ultra rich aren’t some kind of 5D chess strategy to get their secrets, they’re pure and simply a mix of greed and no scruples whatsoever by people who are trained since their teens in image management.
If the English Gentleman stereotype of honorable behaviour was ever true (rather than an image crafted by films, which frankly seems more likely), nowadays it’s only about “projecting the right image”, which is quite independent of “doing the right thing” (given that the upper classes are literally taught in their private schools to be fake and tell people what they want to hear, being a “posh gentleman” might actually be negativelly correlated with “doing the right thing”).
In summary, do not expect honorable behaviour from the present day British elites, especially not the English ones - want to find honor in that country, try the Northern England and Scottish working class (maybe also Northern-Ireland, but I’m not as familiar with those) and a few amongst the middle and lower-middle class in multi-cultural large cities like London.
Well said 👍🏻