Tuesday 18 October 2016

Victor Mentality


I wonder why Melania Trump felt the need to forgive the millionaire, Donald Trump, his locker talk?

On swapping my phones and transferring the data, I happened to look at the notes on the old Galaxy Note 3, where I jot down thoughts for blog entries and spotted one from a few weeks ago about the Victor Mentality, which I never got down to posting.

This was mentioned by an army officer with respect to the proposed creation of a European Army. The officer mentioned that the UK's army is woefully inadequate, with respect to both manpower and materiel, should even a minor war kick off, but that there's a certain amount of reluctance to countenance this within the general population. She put this down to the Victor Mentality - a cognitive dissonance manifesting in us not facing up to reality and still living in a glorious past.


There are many reasons for leaving the EU, some very good (the return of duty free, not that you'll be able to afford it) and some woefully bad. However, the level of a lot of the arguments hinge on this Victor Mentality and a totally false view of the UK's abilities. Merely wishing for things to be a certain way can sometimes have a positive outcome, but if the reality is so divergent from the rosy image and the forces for change are ranged against that change, then the outlook ain't too bright. Ken Loach summed that up in the news today by referring to Britian's obsession with fake, sugar-coated period dramas that don't reflect reality.

We have;  the lowest GDP of any northwestern continental nation, unions who consistently prove themselves incapable of supporting productivity improvements unless they are attached to massive wage increases which immediately wipe out any productivity gains, a pound that's practically in free-fall, increases in ethnic attacks. Doesn't look good in the harsh light of reality. Should solve the immigration problem through - no-one in their right mind would want to come here and, failing that, we could absorb increased unemployment by deploying job seekers as border guards.

The fact we have two thirds of the Top Gear team in the government, however, bodes well - May and Hammond. We just need Clarkson to join them for any real movement on getting caravans off the roads.


4 comments:

A Heron's View said...

Unfortunately the Victor mentality is very apparent within a lot of English people. I recall a visitor to our home a few years ago who asked us if we ever visited the mainland and was surprised when we said "This is our mainland !" meaning Ireland.

Chairman Bill said...

Is't the mainland that place across the Channel that occasionally becomes cut off from civilisation by fog?

A Heron's View said...

Bill, It just depends on which coast you site your deck chair :-)

Chairman Bill said...

Funny you should say that. I have an irrational abhorrence of the east coast. Some of it must be to do with the North Sea, which from personal experience is always dark green or grey, and some of it is to do with me liking sunsets over a seascape, which ,of course, you don't get on an east-facing beach.