An unseemly discussion

Queen Elizabeth II. Long may she reign!

Whilst recently editing an article in the Encyclopaedia of New England Online, I came upon the rather unfortunate dilemma of writing in the time of death for our present Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II. There have been a good number of authors over the years that have not hesitated to write about such an eventuality, but I for one cannot abide such an unseemly discussion whilst Her Majesty is still alive and well.

It goes without saying that it would be highly unlikely if Her Majesty were to still be alive on the 5 June 2052, the date at which the Encyclopaedia of New England Online is presently set. If by some happy miracle she were, then the Queen would be the very hearty age of 126 years, 1 month, and 15 days. Whilst not entirely outside the realm of possibility, especially given advances in medical science (see this slightly tongue-in-check article for another take on the longevity of the Royal Family), it is far more likely that either the Queen’s son or grandson will be sovereign on this date.

If and when the Queen does die, then the article will be updated with the time and place, and the world shall be a poorer place for it. That does not mean, however, that I think it appropriate to speculate when Her Majesty will leave us for her eternal reward, and I for one will not do so on this encyclopaedia. Instead, the date is marked with a simple em dash (—)  and a link to this entry in the journal as a means of explanation.

The local revolution

Some months ago I purchased The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain by Douglas Carswell and Daniel Hannan.  The central premise of the book is the idea that too much power has been taken away from Parliament and local communities and handed to unelected bureaucrats in Whitehall and Brussels. Twenty-first century Great Britain is the sorry story of a nation overrun by qangos and the EU, and as a result, politics in the country is failing.

Since I bought the book, I have read and re-read it, looking for ideas that can be applied to the New England experiment. It goes without saying that I have found a number of things that any sensible politician should consider adopting as policy, but the most important thing I have gathered from the book is the idea that any decision affecting people should be made as close as possible to those same people. It seems obvious, and very simple, but in recent times there has been a swing back to the big spending centralist governments of the left who quite frankly, couldn’t run a whelk stall.

Here are just some of the many ideas discussed in The Plan that have been translated to the New England experiment:

• No public funding for political parties;
• Devolution of social security to local authorities;
• Singapore style health insurance; and
• Referendums that can block any legislation passed by Parliament.

It goes without saying that I think this policy should apply to Australia as well. There need to be more states, not less; and the ever increasing power of the Commonwealth should be curtailed. At the present, it is far too big.  Given the centralist policies of all the political elite in this country, there isn’t a snowflakes chance in Hell this would happen.

And people wonder why I gave up on the real world years ago and started New England Online…

Ring in the Changes

What an amazing six months!

The site really has been transformed by the decision to embrace traditionalism last year. Many ideas for pages that had been discarded for seeming too reactionary have now been embraced and published. These changes aren’t without controversy, and the very act of writing and publishing them makes the site a target for political criticism. But, I wouldn’t really be doing this if I didn’t want to engage in some sort of political discourse on the fate of western civilisation, and I sincerely and strongly believe that these new pages introduced are necessary if we are too survive.

To summarise, these changes have included:

• Establishment of Christianity as the state religion. All major denominations are included;
• Establishment of a peerage and baronetage in New England as part of the honours system;
• The introduction of a quadripartite system for secondary school education;
• The replacement of social democracy with liberalism as the major progressive political ideology; and
• Reintroduction of capital punishment for the most serious and aggravating of offences (I freely admit that this is probably the most controversial idea I have introduced to the website, but I do not shy away from the need for it).

In 2004, New England Online was featured in the book High Lean Country: Land, People and Memory in New England. For me, it was a great honour to be featured in this academic work, and confirmed that what I was doing for of both academic and artistic, merit. In the prelude to the book, Professor J.S. Ryan described the site as “A utopia built on the realities and values of the present” and “New England idealism wonderfully updated”.

I doubt very much that Professor Ryan would view New England Online of 2010 in quite the same light, not least because of the massive changes wrought by the passage of time, as the author has grown up and his political views have changed almost beyond recognition. But even if I lost the admiration of academia for now, I don’t believe that what I am doing has any less value as an academic exercise. Time, and the chance to complete many more pages of New England Online, will provide me with a product that can argue my case for a traditionalist state in the south pacific.

New Things

New England Online has grown up a lot these last five years. Originally written as a means of salving the wounds of electoral defeat, it has changed in nature to become a treatise on the merits of traditional conservatism. That’s quite a leap, as I’m sure you can appreciate. But to be truthful, New England Online was always slightly more conservative in outlook than my pinko liberal beliefs might have been willing to admit. I am fortunate that this change in the political affiliation of the beast means very little of the content has had to be adjusted to suit.

For five years, the site has been intellectually confused. One can see this in the some of the stranger notions that existed in the earlier drafts. There was no marriage, yet national service was compulsory. A strong faith system was seen as essential, and yet the largest religious group were the largely godless Unitarians. These examples probably prove that despite my best intentions, the site was, and I suppose still is, without purpose. That raises the question, what is the raison d’être of this enterprise?

The philosophy of traditional conservatism provides the intellectual bedrock to the entire exercise. It gives me an opportunity to craft stories that are both entertaining, while at the same time providing a sound explanation and account of why traditional conservatism is the only way the build a prosperous society. But even more than this, having re-engaged my brain and found a philosophy that compels me to serve my God, my Queen and my Country, I find that my life is open to me again in a way that it has not been in many years. From such a sound place, the quality of the work I do here can only be improved.

As I mentioned in my last entry, there can be little doubt that New England Online has become a subversive influence on my life. Apart from burden that the website has placed on my long suffering fiancée and friends, it is telling that my interest in the affairs of the real world have taken a back seat to the affairs of the two and half million fictitious New Englanders of my imagination. Whatever I have taken an interest in has only been so because it might form the basis of a new page on the website. I think by anyone’s appraisal, that it a far from a healthy way to live one’s life.

But in the ten days so far of my four month mental holiday, I have come across a range of new things. As a reward for being prepared to think and explore, this afternoon came the first flowering of an intellectualism that has been dormant in my mind almost since I took up writing the behemoth in 2004. When you look at it, it is hard to argue that the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree just yet, but just the fact that ideas are finally reaching into my mind must surely be a source for celebration.

I have at last discovered new things.

Subversion

There can be no doubt that New England Online has been a subversive influence on my life over the last five years. Originally written as a panacea to the electoral misfortunes of the political left, it has grown into a beast, consuming a huge part of my every day and occupying almost all my idle thoughts in between. Everything else in my life has suffered as a result, and to what end?

About ten days ago, I found I needed a break. A huge break. It has become too much. Not a day goes by when I am not digging around in it, and almost everything else I do is done because the website. So, I have to stop, take a breath, and rediscover life. I don’t expect that I will open the website again until January, and updates probably won’t come around for another month after that. It will do me some good to be away from it.

Like all addictions, getting away from it is hard. I have prayed for strength to break this addiction and while I have had some luck, I understand that these things take time, and the ‘cold turkey’ option is not always the easiest. I suppose you could argue that writing this entry is proof that I am not succeeding. I think I am getting there, because the points I raise in the next post prove that my brain is beginning to see the outside world again.

Please wish me luck.