The British Dream

Posted by: long-time-dead on 13 February 2004

Nice to see Michael Howard's challenge to GWB Jr. take the piss out of "The American Dream" ideology.

Disney's not Disney anymore
Barbie's off with some bit of Aussie plastic (aka Jordan/Peter Andre !)
Michael Jackson's pocket money will be stopped very soon
Friends is nearly finished

Time for Britain to rule the world again !!!!!

(Now that should start some controversy......Over to the political analysts on the forum)
Posted on: 13 February 2004 by Justin
Walt Disney HATED the British. He figured that starting the world's largest children's entertainment company was the best way to bludgeon you over the head. Wink

Judd
Posted on: 13 February 2004 by Tarquin Maynard - Portly
Yes but we don't care.

Which is particularly annoying.

Regards

Mike

On the Yellow Brick Road and Happy
Posted on: 13 February 2004 by ErikL
Here's the speech to which ltd's referring, I think.

"In America, they talk about the American Dream. They talk about the ability of someone born in a log cabin to make it to the White House. As it happens, in America this is the exception, not the rule."

I must not know any "they" people to whom Howard refers. I thought The American Dream was about immigrating and becoming an entrepreneur, buying your own home, making a hundred grand a year, sending your kid to a great college... stuff like that.
Posted on: 13 February 2004 by Steve G
Isn't "Death of a Salesman" the definitive view of the American Dream?
Posted on: 13 February 2004 by Steve Toy
I would say that it was an alternativ view of the American Dream.

Not everyone can be winners, but the winners themselves just don't see it that way.



Regards,

Steve.
Posted on: 16 February 2004 by Madrid
quote:
the people should be big and the state should be small.


quote:
Because we have a State that does too much, that interferes too much, that is too unaccountable


Though far more literate, Howard´s speech could have been written for/by Ronald Reagan.

Off to watch the sparks fly...
Posted on: 16 February 2004 by JeremyD
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Toy:

Not everyone can be winners, but the winners themselves just don't see it that way.
While the USA has even less excuse than the UK for its extremes of wealth and poverty, American culture seems to be infused with a positivity that is sadly lacking here - at least, in the American Dream versus British Nightmare version of reality.

In the American Dream, it's not how many times you fail that counts but how many times you pick yourself up and try again.

In the Klingon-inspired British Nightmare, if you fail once you're a failure.
Posted on: 16 February 2004 by Steve Toy
I doen't help when in certain places in the UK - and my home town is one such place - success, especially academic success is positively stigmatised and inverted snobbery reigns supreme.

For the record, whether you agree with what Howard has to say or not in his speech, he has vision and principles unlike our current Prime Minister who recently declared that he'll need 15 years to reform our public services. Does this mean that he'll force a vote through Parliament using methods of bribery and coercion like he did over Top-up Fees to call off the General Election indefinitely until his job is done/has a chance of winning?



Regards,

Steve.