Common Bonds and the Anglosphere

Our Dirty Little Secret

A correspondent, Liam Hehir, writing in the Manawatu Standard, attempts a rationale as to why New Zealand should be actively involved in the Western military effort against ISIS.  It is because of a shared cultural traditions enjoyed by the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  He defines some key aspects of this shared culture.

As it is with families, so it is with nations and there is a natural affinity between those countries that share a Britannic inheritance. Winston Churchill spoke of the common bonds of the "English speaking peoples". New Zealand historian James Belich has written of it as the "Anglo-World". The term that seems to be vogue now is the "Anglosphere". . . .

This closeness is not based on race. An Italian American has little ancestry in common with a British Pakistani or an Australian Aborigine. There is no such thing as a "Canadian" or "New Zealand" ethnicity. Our familiarity is instead bound up in shared traditions like the common law, habeas corpus, trial by jury, free enterprise, private property, freedom of speech and, of course, the English language.

Hehir neglects to mention that the two dominant members of the Anglosphere, the UK and the US, also have a long tradition of colonialism and neo-colonialism respectively.   This tradition we in NZ, but also Canada and Australia do not share--at least not to the same degree.  It is those traditions which have led both the UK and the US off to war, repeatedly.


Moreover, whilst the common law, habeas corpus, trial by jury, free enterprise, private property, and freedom of speech are indeed the backbone of the Anglo culture historically, all are now under attack (in some cases severely so) in all Anglosphere countries.  The attack upon and disdain for these cultural traditions comes from within.  Anglo culture, so called,  is dying.

The causes of this lingering decline, we repeat, come from within, not without.  They signal a deeper reality.  Historical Anglo cultural values and institutions cannot survive without a foundation that is deeper (and more authoritative) than those values.  We believe the Christian faith provided those values, which is to say they are gifts bestowed upon humans by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Since long ago the Anglo countries deserted the faith, the historical cultural centre of the Anglosphere cannot hold.  In our day, Hehir is offering us little more than a quaint, antiquated idea--an echo of a long gone past. 

Notwithstanding this, Hehir asks us to remember the club's values and rules when it comes to responding to the Anglosphere's requests for military assistance.

But while the views and actions of our partners are not binding on us, neither are they irrelevant. Membership in "the club" is important for New Zealand and that merits giving serious and respectful consideration to the requests that are made of us.

There are two glaring gaps in this scenario.  Both represent moral failings on our part.

The first is that long ago New Zealand decided that it would wed itself to the dysfunctional and endlessly corrupt, United Nations ahead of any loyalty to an "Anglosphere".  This galactically stupid policy has resulted in a sustained attack upon the common law, habeas corpus, trial by jury, free enterprise, private property, and freedom of speech in this country.  In other words, long, long ago New Zealand decided that Anglo culture was out, to be replaced by a culture emanating from internationalism, otherwise known as "Globalmanism". 

The second arises from a streak of realpolitick.  At the same time Globalmanism was tickling our fancy, we sold our soul to the Anglosphere because we have never looked to the United Nations to come to our defence if attacked.  No-one has ever been that purblind or stupid--although a few have come close.  Consequently our real national defence policy has been to rely upon members of the Anglosphere club to come to our aid.  This has allowed New Zealand systematically to underspend on national defence for over fifty years.  We have defended ourselves on the cheap.  We have freeloaded.  We have played the role of the colonial subjugate.

The price to be paid, every now and again, is to participate in the wars of the Anglosphere.  That's the real reason we are going to "fight" ISIS.  Our debt has to be paid.  We are merely renewing the call option, by which we can call upon our club partners to come to our defence if we are ever attacked.

The public debate in New Zealand over whether we should contribute militarily to the defeat of ISIS has never once publicly acknowledged this reality.  It would be too embarrassing.  And that, dear friends, represents our great national shame--our dirty little secret that no-one ever likes talking about.