Daniel Hannan: A Foreign-Born Antidote to the Foreign-Born Destroyer of American Liberty

"Ye therefore that come after, give remembrance."

 
There is no more articulate, living champion of America's foundational principles than the English statesman, Daniel Hannan.  Here he addresses a Centre for Independent Studies forum in Australia, but his arguments, which make many references to the American experience, could not be more pertinent to the United States -- which itself makes his important point about the organic unity of the English-speaking peoples.

Here is the foreign-born antidote to the foreign-born destroyer of the American nation.

Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World

In "Inventing Freedom", Daniel Hannan reflects on the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made America great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. Hannan argues that the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms -- individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government -- are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited.

The World of English Freedoms

It's no accident that the English-speaking nations are the ones most devoted to law and individual rights, writes Daniel Hannan

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill on board the HMS Prince of Wales, August 1941 Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By Daniel Hannan

Asked, early in his presidency, whether he believed in American exceptionalism, Barack Obama gave a telling reply. "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."

The first part of that answer is fascinating (we'll come back to the Greeks in a bit). Most Brits do indeed believe in British exceptionalism. But here's the thing: They define it in almost exactly the same way that Americans do. British exceptionalism, like its American cousin, has traditionally been held to reside in a series of values and institutions: personal liberty, free contract, jury trials, uncensored newspapers, regular elections, habeas corpus, open competition, secure property, religious pluralism.

The conceit of our era is to assume that these ideals are somehow the natural condition of an advanced society—that all nations will get around to them once they become rich enough and educated enough. In fact, these ideals were developed overwhelmingly in the language in which you are reading these words. You don't have to go back very far to find a time when freedom under the law was more or less confined to the Anglosphere: the community of English-speaking democracies.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal >>

 

Daniel Hannan: "A Secular Miracle Set the English-Speaking Peoples Apart"

There is no one in the Anglosphere who more eloquently expresses the noble ideals of the English-speaking peoples than does Daniel Hannan.  In this moving talk, given in the fields of Runnymede, Hannan pays tribute to Magna Carta - "a secular miracle that set the English-speaking peoples apart."

Andrew Roberts: A History of the English-Speaking Peoples (Since 1900)

In 1900, where Churchill ended the fourth volume of his History of the English-Speaking Peoples, the United States had not yet emerged onto the world scene as a great power. Meanwhile, the British Empire was in decline but did not yet know it. Any number of other powers might have won primacy in the 20th Century and beyond, including Germany, Russia, possibly even France. Yet the coming century was to belong to the English-speaking peoples, who successively and successfully fought the Kaiser's Germany, Axis aggression and Soviet Communism, and who are now struggling against Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.

British historian and biographer Andrew Roberts examines what made the English-speaking people the preeminent political culture since 1900, and how they have defended their primacy from the many assaults upon them. What connects those countries where the majority of the population speaks English as a first language - the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies and Ireland - is far greater than what separates them. The development of their history since 1900 has been a phenomenal success story. It is an especially valuable story to understand as the United States today looks to other parts of the English-speaking world as its best, closest and most dependable allies.

Anglosphere Dominates in Higher Education, According to Chinese Study

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

A special Hat Tip to Nebraska Energy Observer for an excellent post about how, according to research carried out by Shanghai's Jiaotong University, 42 of the world's 50 best universities are in the English-speaking world.  

There are six factors for placement on the list, including the "number of Nobel Prize winners, number of ‘highly cited’ researchers and  the number of articles published by leading magazines in their field.  

Harvard leads the list and is one of 35 American universities in the top 50.  There are also 5 British and 2 Canadian universities among those deemed best in the world.

University of Cambridge

TOP 50 ACADEMIC RANKING OF WORLD UNIVERSITIES 2013 

1.  Harvard University, United States

2 . Stanford University, United States

3.  University of California, Berkeley, United States

4.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),United States

5.  University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

6.  California Institute of Technology, United States

7.  Princeton University, United States

8.  Columbia University, United States

9.  University of Chicago, United States

10.University of Oxford, United Kingdom

11.Yale University, United States

12.University of California, Los Angeles, United States

13.Cornell University, United States

14.University of California, San Diego, United States

15.University of Pennsylvania, United States

16.University of Washington, United States

17.The Johns Hopkins University, United States

18.University of California, San Francisco, United States

19.University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States

20.Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland

21.The University of Tokyo, Japan

22.University College London, United Kingdom

23.University of Michigan – Ann Arbor    United States

24.The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK

25.University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States

26.Kyoto University, Japan

27.New York University, United States

28.University of Toronto,Canada

29.University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States

30. Northwestern University, United States

31. Duke University, United States

32. Washington University in St. Louis, United States

33. University of Colorado at Boulder, United States

34. Rockefeller University, United States

35. University of California, Santa Barbara, United States

36. The University of Texas at Austin, United States

37. Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris 6, France

38. University of Maryland, College Park, United States

39. University of Paris Sud, Paris 11, France

40. University of British Columbia,Canada

41. The University of Manchester, United Kingdom

42. University of Copenhagen, Denmark

43. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States

44. Karolinska Institute, Sweden

45. University of California, Irvine, United States

46 .The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, U.S. 

47. University of California, Davis, United States

48. University of Southern California, United States

49. Vanderbilt University, United States

50. Technical University Munich, Germany

 

University College, University of Toronto

Why is the Anglosphere, and particularly the United States, still the overwhelming leader in higher education?  The Nebraska Energy Observer offers a thoughtful explanation:

"The old heritage of freedom in the English-speaking world still holds. Free, fun, and unbridled inquiry is what has driven our countries to be the leaders in the modern world, and for all our problems (which are manifold, and hurting us) we are still the standard which the rest of the world is trying (unsuccessfully) to catch."

Daniel Hannan: Our Shared Anglosphere Heritage

Daniel Hannan is a writer and journalist, and has been Conservative MEP for South East England since 1999. He speaks French and Spanish and loves Europe, but believes that the European Union is making its constituent nations poorer, less democratic and less free.

Peter Glover: Fuelling The Rise Of The Anglosphere

From The Global Warming Policy Foundation 

The rise of the Anglosphere economies could be turbo-charged via an entirely unexpected dynamic: vast new domestic energy wealth – in the shape of shale and deepwater oil and gas, and oil sands – across leading Anglosphere nations.

James C. Bennett’s The Anglosphere Challenge claimed that ‘the English-speaking nations will lead the way in the twenty-first century’. Bennett’s contention was that the cultural values endemic across what he termed the ‘Anglosphere’ economies would, via the influence of the Internet’s information highway, prove to be the Next Big Idea.

We only have to review the roots of the Arab Spring to see what Bennett meant in practice, with millions demanding the overthrow of medievalism and dictatorial repression. But I would add that Bennett’s thesis does not depend solely on the ‘influence of the Net’. In the wake of the collapse of the Iron Curtain and global communism, we are now also privy to the collapse of the Gallic culture-inspired European socialist ideal; as the attempt to knit together wildly differing cultures and economies into a homogenous whole begins to unravel. In the face of this, for all its current economic woes, free market capitalism, especially in its Anglosphere form, looks to be a far more culturally stable and durable, wealth-creating, proposition, further buttressing Bennett’s case. But even Bennett did not predict that the rise of the Anglosphere economies could be turbo-charged via an entirely unexpected dynamic: vast new domestic energy wealth – in the shape of shale and deepwater oil and gas, and oil sands – across leading Anglosphere nations.

A Very Happy Victoria Day to All Our Canadian Friends!

We have been surprised and delighted by the large number of Canadians, particularly from the beautiful western provinces, who visit this blog.  

Sunlit Uplands reveres the historical, social and cultural bonds that unite the English-speaking peoples, and it is deeply gratifying to see so many throughout the Anglosphere responding to our posts.  Because of the large number of readers from Canada, we have added a Canadian news source to our Sunlit News feed, and we hope that you will not hesitate to call to our attention any article that may be of interest to our readers.

We extend to all our Canadian friends and your families, "from Cape Race to Nootka Sound," warmest good wishes for a very happy Victoria Day!

'Brits at their Best' Profiles Sunlit Uplands

We are honored and grateful to have been profiled yesterday on one of Great Britain's, indeed the Internet's, most beautiful and interesting websites, Brits at their Best.

Brits at their Best is a joyous, sumptuous, eye-appealing tribute to the life of Great Britain today, and the civilization-building contributions that the British nation has made at home and throughout the world. It celebrates her heroes, saints, scholars, knights, military leaders, political leaders, scientists, inventors, artists, and their extraordinary legacy to us all. Most importantly, it provides the time-line and tells the story of Britain's role in the ever broadening quest for freedom and self-determination, and freedom's hallmarks - Magna Carta, parliamentary government, habeas corpus, trial by jury, freedom of speech, common law, economic freedom, and respect for the property and rights of the individual.

Brits at their Best is not only a pleasure for those who love history, it is a source of inspiration for all English-speaking people in their efforts to defend and renew their culture. We heartily recommend it.

Historian Andrew Roberts on the Anglosphere

Here's a fascinating discussion of the great historical movements in the twentieth century and those of our day.

With A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900, Andrew Roberts completed Sir Winston Churchill's great four volume history, which ended with the death of Queen Victoria.

"The Story of English: Next Year's Words" with Robert MacNeil

In this concluding episode of Robert MacNeill's history of the English language, he reviews the "local energies" driving changes in the language throughout the British Commonwealth and beyond.

"The Story of English: The Loaded Weapon" with Robert MacNeil

In episode 8 of his history of the English language, Robert MacNeil explores the influence of Irish Gaelic on the language and Ireland's political and cultural differences with England.

"The Story of English: The Muvver Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

This seventh episode of Robert MacNeil's history of the English language considers Cockney English and the influence of the "English in exile" who settled Australia and New Zealand

"The Story of English: Pioneers, O Pioneers!" with Robert MacNeil

This sixth episode of Robert NacNeil's history of the English language traces the evolution of American English from the Revolutionary War through the 1920s, and the contribution of slang terms from segments of the population, along with the influence of 1900s immigrants.

"The Story of English: Black on White" with Robert MacNeil

This fifth episode of Robert MacNeil's story of the English language probes the roots of Black English, including the American slave trade, plantation life, the Creole influence, and Harlem's jive talk. There is a special focus on the influence of the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina. Earlier episodes may be found in the archives for January, to the right.

"The Story of English: The Guid Scots Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

Continuing Robert MacNeil's fascinating examination of the history of the English language, this fourth episode traces the influence of Scottish and Irish Gaelic on the language and the influence of the Scots-Irish in North America, especially the English spoken in the Appalachian region of the United States.

"The Story of English: A Muse of Fire" with Robert MacNeil

This third episode of Robert MacNeil's history of the English language considers the enormous influence of Shakespeare, the "great genius" of the language, as well as that of the King James translation of the Bible. It also examines how the language was brought to the new world by the Elizabethans.

"The Story of English: The Mother Tongue" with Robert MacNeil

This second episode in "The Story of English" traces the history of the language in terms of successive invasions of the British Isles, from the Anglo-Saxons through the Norman French in 1066.

Africa and the Unstoppable Rise of English

French Funded Rwandan Genocide

From The Japan Times

By Gwynne Dyer

Just over half of Africa's 52 countries speak French, but the number is dropping. This month Rwanda defected, announcing that henceforward only English will be taught in the schools. It would not be overstating the case to say that this caused alarm and despondency in France.

You couldn't help feeling, either, that Rwanda's trade and industry minister, Vincent Karega, was deliberately rubbing salt in the wound when he explained why French was being scrapped. "French is spoken only in France, some parts of west Africa, and parts of Canada and Switzerland," he said. (In parts of Belgium, too, actually, not to mention Haiti, but you get the point.) "English has emerged as a backbone for growth and development not only in the region but around the globe."

Getting very close to the regimes in African countries that have French as an official language, even sending troops to protect them from their domestic enemies, has always been part of Paris' strategy for preserving the status of French as a world language. In Rwanda's case, that put France in bed with the extremist Hutu-dominated regime that ruled the densely populated country before the genocide, to such an extent that Paris largely paid for the tripling in size of the Rwandan army in 1990-91.

When the Hutu regime began murdering the minority Tutsis in industrial quantities in 1994, France did not abandon it. The French president at the time, Francois Mitterrand, is alleged to have remarked that "in such countries, genocide is not too important . . ." And a principal reason that France overlooked its Rwandan ally's ghastly behavior was that the Tutsi-led opposition in exile mostly spoke English, because its members had found refuge in English-speaking Uganda.

An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 1994, but the Uganda-based Rwanda Patriotic Front put an end to the genocide by invading the country and overthrowing the regime. Even a direct French military intervention in Rwanda (thinly disguised as a humanitarian operation) could not save the Hutu "genocidiaires," as they are universally known. So it was not to be expected that the new, mainly English-speaking government in Rwanda would have warm feelings toward France.

Fourteen years later, more than 95 percent of Rwanda's secondary schools still teach mainly in French, although an alternative English instructional program or intensive English language courses are usually available. Knowledge of both English and French is required for university entrance (and for most government jobs), but the government's own statistics say that only 3 percent of the population are fluent in English. Nevertheless, the new decision ends the teaching of French in Rwandan schools.

The government defends it as a purely business decision, driven by Rwanda's membership in the largely English-speaking East African Community (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi), but resentment of France also plays a role. This is a country that has already expelled the French ambassador and closed down the French cultural center, international school and radio station.

But can an African country just switch from one European language to another like that? It can if, like Rwanda, it only uses one language domestically. Almost all Rwandans, whether Hutu or Tutsi, speak Kinyarwanda, so they have no need for a lingua franca to communicate among themselves. Only those going into higher education or working with foreigners need any other language at all — which is why only 8 percent of Rwandans speak fluent French after all this time.

This is far from typical of African countries, most of which have many different ethnic groups, each with its own language. Such countries use the language of the former colonial power as a neutral "national" language, and have such a large investment in teaching it by now that switching is out of the question. The Congo will always use French; Nigeria will always use English; Mozambique will always use Portuguese.

So Francophones can relax: Their language is not about to be vanish from the African continent. On the other hand, French will always lose out to English in situations like Rwanda, where there is a single national language and the main reason for learning a foreign language is communication with the rest of the world.

Vietnam, an ex-French colony, has long taught English as the main foreign language in its schools, and Madagascar, also formerly ruled by France, made English a national language last year.

English-speakers often assume that this world role for their language owes something to its huge vocabulary and wonderful literature, or at least to the fact that Hollywood speaks English. Nothing of the sort. The sole reason is that the world's dominant power for the past two centuries has been English-speaking: Britain in the 19th century, and the United States in the 20th. Timing is everything, and English just happened to be the leading candidate when globalization created the need for an agreed global second language.


Gwynne Dyer is a London-based journalist.