Broken society
Taki lives the High Life
Those were the good old days, all right, but already the you-know-what was about to hit the fan. Only five years later we had the three-day week, and five years after that we had the winter of discontent. Old England really unravelled rather quickly. Imagine what the place would be like today if it hadn’t been for the Iron Lady. Better yet, imagine what it would be like ‘sans’ ten years of the greatest conman ever to live at No. 10? No wonder young Harry doesn’t like England that much. How could he? Pursued by the vile paparazzi everywhere, obliged to read the horrors that an Egyptian conman spews out about his family, having nothing to look forward to than more of the same, he’d be doing himself a favour to live away from it all. Africa, of course, is not the answer. If England is a broken society, Africa is a wrecked continent beyond help or redemption. African leaders’ greed and the cowardice of Westerners (as well as that of the Chinese) who continue to deal with the criminals will have managed to wreck the place by the time global warming makes it uninhabitable.
Mind you, I seem to be a bit pessimistic, but it’s probably the hangover. I have been railing against the nouveaux-riches Russians invading the Alps, and some locals of Gstaad who have been selling goodies to the slobs have turned against the poor little Greek boy. But a nice letter from Michael Hall, a British diplomat based in France, cheered me up. Do not despair, he wrote, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, the trouble is we will have to wait another century. Michael Hall then recounts how he sat next to Princess Tatiana von Metternich, whom he described correctly as a cosmopolitan, amusing and wise old lady. She died 18 months ago. Talking about modern Russia, the princess, a Russian, said to the diplomat, ‘Of course the toads are in control ...toads always dominate in times of chaos, but in time toads will become less toad-like.... They will marry beautiful women, send their children to expensive schools in England, and they will buy expensive pictures at Christie’s...’ In other words, in two generations they will be gentlemen.
I thank Michael Hall for his kind words and the amusing articles he enclosed, especially the one about the desperate efforts of diplomats to land a knighthood before they retire in order to enjoy the perks that come to those with a K, but I think the toads are here to stay. Once upon a time the toads aped their betters. Now their betters ape the toads. Just look at what’s happening in England.
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Tiggy
March 6th, 2008 1:14pmTaki is 100% correct, unfortunately. We have been over run buy toads.
M. Hristov
March 8th, 2008 2:50amThat great memoirist the Duc de Saint-Simon hated the privileges heaped upon the legitimised bastards of Louis XIV. He felt that Ducs, such as himself, should have precedence over bastards, even Royal bastards. Yet M. Le Duc was, himself, ,of recent ducal descent. His father having been awarded that accolade. How reassuring to know that so little changes, for that second generation millionaire, Taki, now has the same prejudices as M. le Duc. The Russian oligarchs are too vulgar for Taki and he decries their advance. Heedless of that fact that it was the privatisation policy of his great heroine, Lady Thatcher, perverted by American neo-cons, that allowed this to happen. Princess Tatiana Metternich was right. All aristocrats tended to start as “toads”, particularly Russian aristocrats. The Russian aristocracy being a service aristocracy. Indeed, the brothers Orlov achieved their ascent, from common guardsmen, by providing certain services to Catherine II (The Great). Services akin to those provided by Paris Hilton on her famous internet video. There is no difference between these Orlov brothers and Hilton, except that the Orlovs were also regicides, having killed Peter III, Catherine‘s husband. I suppose it could be argued that the 19th Century was the high watermark of aristocratic respectability but respectability was probably borne out of bourgeois competition. The aristocracy and aristocratic leadership, as a concept, really died between 1914 and 1918, well before Taki pere pulled himself out of the mire. It is probably vulgar of me to point out another motivation. The French royal bastards were rich. Indeed, one of them was married to the Louis XIV’s nephew, the richest man in France. They also had power. This will have sharpened the Duc de saint-Simon’s enmity. The oligarchs are rich and this has sharpened Taki’s enmity. Plus ca change.
Emma Laird
March 9th, 2008 8:50pmCameron is right, we can't afford to loose faith in the healthcare system so why stir things up with un-neccasery comments.