"Intellectuals."
I first published this old blog posting on-line many years ago and I have deleted it many times.
It's an oldie but a goldie.
I include this old blog posting because I believe in freedom of speech and because some kind of wisdom may be revealed by its humour.
The following was a real letter in the humorous, satirical and investigative journal "Private Eye", published in 1992. I stress that I am not its creator.
It is among the finest and funniest pieces of writing ever published in this supremely excellent journal and I have to confess that it actually saved my life. I mean that.
Because until I read it I thought that there was actually something wrong with me.
Here it comes.
"A Scots Intellectual Writes.
Dear Sir,
The dispute in your columns between "Southern Softies" and "Northern Oiks" is becoming a little too heated for my liking.
Can I just weigh in with a few well-chosen words of reason and moderation?
You're all English bastards.
Yours sincerely,
A.Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland."
My own response to it - which was not published - was the following:
"An English Intellectual Writes
Dear Sir,
The dispute in Ireland between "Fenian Papist Republican Scum" and "Proddie Orange Brutish Dogs" has always been far too heated for my liking.
Can I just weigh in with a few well-chosen words of reason and moderation?
You're all mad Irish bastards.
Yours sincerely,
A.N. Englishman, London, England.
This last letter is not meant to detract from the truth that the partitioning of Ireland and the denial of full Irish independence are crimes principally committed by the English state and no one else.
In 2018, these humorous comments are still apposite, as the utter nonsense and chaos of "Brexit" wreaks its havoc.
What I can't avoid reflecting on is that things could have been sorted out much more satisfactorily in 1992.
I stress that I don't fully agree with extreme nationalism and I also don't agree with the denial of democracy.
I am an anti-imperialist and I believe in freedom.
I first published this old blog posting on-line many years ago and I have deleted it many times.
It's an oldie but a goldie.
I include this old blog posting because I believe in freedom of speech and because some kind of wisdom may be revealed by its humour.
The following was a real letter in the humorous, satirical and investigative journal "Private Eye", published in 1992. I stress that I am not its creator.
It is among the finest and funniest pieces of writing ever published in this supremely excellent journal and I have to confess that it actually saved my life. I mean that.
Because until I read it I thought that there was actually something wrong with me.
Here it comes.
"A Scots Intellectual Writes.
Dear Sir,
The dispute in your columns between "Southern Softies" and "Northern Oiks" is becoming a little too heated for my liking.
Can I just weigh in with a few well-chosen words of reason and moderation?
You're all English bastards.
Yours sincerely,
A.Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland."
My own response to it - which was not published - was the following:
"An English Intellectual Writes
Dear Sir,
The dispute in Ireland between "Fenian Papist Republican Scum" and "Proddie Orange Brutish Dogs" has always been far too heated for my liking.
Can I just weigh in with a few well-chosen words of reason and moderation?
You're all mad Irish bastards.
Yours sincerely,
A.N. Englishman, London, England.
This last letter is not meant to detract from the truth that the partitioning of Ireland and the denial of full Irish independence are crimes principally committed by the English state and no one else.
In 2018, these humorous comments are still apposite, as the utter nonsense and chaos of "Brexit" wreaks its havoc.
What I can't avoid reflecting on is that things could have been sorted out much more satisfactorily in 1992.
I stress that I don't fully agree with extreme nationalism and I also don't agree with the denial of democracy.
I am an anti-imperialist and I believe in freedom.