One for the true believers

Here’s one from George Monbiot for the Slugger true believers.
Quotes

“How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind’s closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and other such gibbering numbskulls get to where they are?

In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves round the earth; only 26% accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the maths skills of 15-year-olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD.”

It’s at this point that the British fall into the trap of misguided complacency, aka feeling jealous of Americans. However, with all the current talk of a return the Keynesianism, I can’t resist sharing a piece of doggerel from 1946. This was when, with the British ambassador to Washington Lord Halifax, Keynes the world’s most celebrated economist was desperately negotiating the post-war financial bail-out with the hard-nosed Americans – and sometimes riling them with his brilliance. (This isn’t one for angry anglophobes).

“In Washington Lord Halifax,
Once whispered to Lord Keyes:
“It’s true they have the moneybags,
But we have all the brains.”

Brian Walker

Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London