Wednesday 11 November 2009

I vote for the Romans



So having touched initially on Quantum Mechanics and an application to the theory of relativity, I have decided to touch on a lighter subject - European politics.  I think in general I would see myself as a Europhile.  I'm not sure that this is driven by any great political intent, in fact I think I am politically ambiguous - possibly agnostic.  I suspect it comes from being born in England but being identifiably descended from elsewhere.  My surname and complexion indicate that I am probably of Celtic descent. (McDermott)

The precursor to the established Celtic nations; the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh, the Cornish the Bretons etc, were migratory tribes and were a largely pan European, trading society - sharing language, art, culture, genes, oh and blood & body parts, there were a few wars!  I would suggest that most inhabitants of the section of the map above marked blue could trace their ancestry back to these early migratory Europeans without a defined land to call home other than the continent.  I think that I will not be alone in saying, I often feel closer to our continental cousins than I do to some of our island based locals.  So come the local elections, (I never said this was going to be current affairs or topical), when presented with a list of umpteen candidates, I could find no party that defined itself by being pro-European.  Many defined themselves by being anti-European, some ignored the subject but not one made it their clarion call.  In the end, following despair at the lack of pro European options, I resolved to vote for "Roman Party" (bbc news euro elections) on the basis that they were pro European - well they did conquer most of the warm bits. There was a single candidate, named Jean-Louis Pascual, standing for "The Roman Party. Ave!". apparently (Praetor Jean) is a French bus driver who has lived for many years in Reading and stood on the ticket: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."  Great sentiment.  Actually, I failed to post my ballot, and so I continued my many years of political indecision.  Veni Vidi Vici Decrevi .

2 comments:

  1. It depends how far you trace ancestry back. We all came from that large landmass south of Europe at some point or other.

    Political parties who define themselves as anti-Europe don't actually have many other policies. I don't see the sense in voting for a party that is single issue because they have not thought things through.

    In the interests of balance it is worth noting that Labour and the Lib Dems are both pro-Europe and I'm not really sure about the Conservatives as they're blowing in the wind a bit on this one.

    Romani eunt domum ?

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  2. You are probably right, genealogy confirms the origins of mankind are indeed Africa - it was more a reference to the origins of our society - social and political behaviors are derived largely from our recent past but I take your point.

    As I said, politics isn't really my strong suit, in a modern democracy what purpose does the heard mentality of party politics have? - actually come to think of it, why do we need a representative in parliament?, surely we could just do a phone poll on Saturday evening. The Lisbon Treaty - yeah or nahh!

    Thanks for adding the balance...

    Romani ite domum! surely

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