Imperial contingencies
Imperial contingencies
A better purpose for Europe than the current post-colonial malaise.
I saw a post on Twitter exclaiming that it’s normal for ethnic Britons to want to have Britain be a place for the British first and foremost. While I agree, it got me thinking along the odd lines that colour the UK’s quite frankly schizophrenic legal culture, specifically about how they have two orthogonal concepts of legal personhood: crown subjects, and citizens a la republican government. It made me realise, hey, it makes a lot of sense for ethnic Britons around the world to have a kind of ancestral claim to citizenship. China does this, so why can’t we? And this tracks perfectly with delineating the notion of being a subject: leave that to the former crown colonies and native-born Britons. So an Indian could elect to be considered a subject, but not a citizen; a native-born Briton would be both a subject and a citizen; and an Anglo from America could be considered a citizen but not a subject.
That train of thought got me thinking about the rest of Europe amid the imperial backdrop they sit atop since the loss of World War II, being vassals of America with independence in name only. So far, Europe has been a veritable shitshow of neoliberal hijinks and corruption galore, and they’ve not turned to cultivate any kind of positive ethos or national purpose. Why not give them a better purpose of being a kind of insurance policy for all of the heritage Americans in the event the American experiment fails?
Hilariously, I would not be the first to have this idea. In 1948, the state of Israel was founded, and became exactly that for Jews the world over. Why is Germany not a reprieve for German-Americans, or Norway a reprieve for Norwegian-Americans? This must be that phenomenon of ethnic blindness that afflicts so many people of European descent. Well, if you don’t have that, then this is pretty much it here in America. If you lose, your lineage is toast. I don’t know what you think, but I think Jews had a lot more common sense about this one. There’s no need for us to YOLO on America, especially with how much corruption and mass migration is afoot lately.
Ireland has this: “If one of your grandparents was born in Ireland, but neither of your parents was born in Ireland, you may become an Irish citizen. You will need to have your birth registered in the Foreign Births Register.”
And although I don't precisely think that Europe is a client state of the United States, I would agree they need to cultivate some sort of identity. Given European history and the way in which the EU and especially the Eurozone were constructed and sold to various countries was usually as a way to compete with America instead of an actual positive common European goal. *cues ‘Ode to Joy’*