After decades of battling villains plotting against Britannia, the modern-day James Bond faces a uniquely 21st-century adversary in the latest Bond novel, “On His Majesty’s Secret Service.” Tasked with protecting King Charles III from Athelstan of Wessex, a right-wing populist and Brexiteer, Bond finds himself immersed in a Hungarian right-wing conspiracy, pondering the merits of the metric system and the dog whistles of populism.
This controversial novel is seemingly designed to provoke conservatives, and my interest was piqued by critical reviews from right-of-center British writers. What becomes apparent is that American progressivism has become a dominant force within the English-speaking world, exerting influence not only in real-life intelligence agencies like the CIA but also within MI6. Furthermore, it appears that forms of progressivism originating in the United States can have a greater impact on our English-speaking neighbors than in America itself.
During recent visits to Canada and Britain, I noticed that both Canadian Conservatives and Britain’s Tories seemed culturally besieged, resigned to the power of progressivism and maybe even envious of American conservatives (despite our political entanglement with Donald Trump). In Canada, there were regrets about the shift leftward after Justin Trudeau’s victory over Stephen Harper in 2015, while in Britain, discussions revolved around the inability of conservative rule to halt progressive biases in the government and the encroachment of American-style wokeness in the culture.
These grievances encompass a range of issues. In Canada, social liberalism has rapidly advanced in drug and euthanasia policies, with nationwide marijuana decriminalization and British Columbia’s experimentation with decriminalizing harder drugs. Assisted suicide has also proliferated at a faster pace than in even the most liberal U.S. states. Meanwhile, in Britain, cultural conservatives face the increasing enforcement of progressive speech codes. A recent incident involved a Tory councilor who was arrested for retweeting a video criticizing police handling of a Christian preacher.
Both countries also face rising immigration rates. The Trudeau government actively promotes immigration, resulting in a surge of new Canadians. Despite Brexit and multiple populist uprisings, the British Tories find themselves presiding over record levels of net migration. By contrast, when the U.S. elected immigration restrictionist Donald Trump, immigration rates did decline.
Additionally, conservatives in both countries believe that their national elites are striving for their own version of the “racial reckoning” that occurred in the U.S. in 2020, despite the absence of comparable experiences with slavery or Jim Crow. In Canada, there have been a series of apologies, canceled patriotic celebrations, and church burnings following claims of mass graves at residential schools for Indigenous children sponsored by the Canadian government. In Britain, there is an attempt to revise the country’s homogeneous history into an American-style narrative of a “nation of immigrants”, with concerns that America’s history is overshadowing their own.
These complaints highlight several points that may explain the perspective of Canadian and British conservatives. Firstly, there is a tendency for provincial leaders to align themselves closely with American ideas and trends, given that both Ottawa and London can feel like provincial capitals within the American empire. Secondly, the more advanced secularization and de-Christianization in Canada and the British Isles leave a void that is partially filled by progressive ideals. Therefore, the post-Protestant ideologies originating in the United States may have a stronger impact in post-Protestant Canada and Britain, compared to more religious regions in America.
Lastly, smaller countries with smaller elites find it easier to enforce ideological conformity than larger and more diverse countries. In these smaller countries, once a set of ideas takes hold among the elite, dissent becomes more challenging. This is seen in Ireland’s rapid shift from conservative Catholicism to progressivism, attributed to the social costs of going against the consensus in a small island nation. Similar patterns are observed in Scotland and Wales, where governments are more progressive than their voters. This can be explained by the ease with which ascendant ideologies can gain full elite “capture” in smaller countries.
While defying consensus may be easier in Britain and Canada compared to other countries, it is still not as straightforward as in the vast and varied United States. America’s multitude of perspectives and the protection of the First Amendment result in a potent new progressivism, as well as a robust resistance to the ideology, even among agents like 007 who serve the King.
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