Saturday 4 June 2016

The really long view

Few people can have such an objective view of Britain's place in Europe over the centuries as Francis Pryor, the man who made his name excavating Flag Fen. (I took advantage of a contract in Peterborough a few years ago to spend a rewarding afternoon on a guided tour round the discoveries thus far, and I still have the book.) So his judgment on what has favoured us in these islands, and what has been to our disadvantage, should be respected.

His main message is that short-termism is wrong.

1 comment:

Frank Little said...

If I have a quibble, it is that Christianity may have been a unifying factor in the nascent United States, but the Constitution did not make it so. In view of the number of dissenters (unitarians) who sought refuge in the new state from persecution in Europe, the founding fathers were careful not to prescribe any form of Christianity as a state religion. It is clear from the motto "In God We Trust" that the God of Abraham was to be respected, but not necessarily via the teachings of Christ and his followers. This proved useful in more recent times in enabling the US to welcome Jews and (please note, Mr Trump) Muslims in later times.