Our Culture, What's Left of It
- 2 min read
- 2 chapters
Related on Lably
Through British people, William Shakespeare and Secularization
Contents
As a common theme, Dalrymple depicts what he sees as "the moral swamp that is contemporary Britain". He criticises current British national culture as "a banal, self-pitying, witless and shallow emotional incontinence". He advocates a restoration of what he calls traditional British virtues such as "prudence, thrift, industry, honesty, moderation, politeness, self-restraint".
He condemns the secularisation of British society, writing:
The loss of the religious understanding of the human condition— that man is a fallen creature for whom virtue is necessary but never fully attainable— is a loss, not a gain, in true sophistication. The secular substitute— the belief in the perfection of life on earth by the endless extension of a choice of pleasures— is not merely callow by comparison but much less realistic in its understanding of human nature.
He describes his experience treating people who use illegal drugs. He defends the 'war on drugs' and attacks the arguments for legalisation. He writes, "If the war on drugs is lost, then so are the wars against theft, speeding, incest, fraud, rape, murder, arson... Few, if any such wars are winnable."
Sign in to keep reading
One more chapter is free with a Lably account.
Reception
The Times Literary Supplement published a mostly positive review by author and editor Richard Davenport-Hines. Davenport-Hines argued that Dalrymple left out the negative influence of American culture on Britain—such as the instant gratification provided on trashy American television and the popularity of unhealthy American fast food. Richard Davenport-Hines also wrote more generally that:
Dalrymple has, it must be stressed, written an urgent, important, almost an essential book. Our Culture, What's Left of It needs to be read and acted on by policy-makers, by opinion-formers, and anyone who wants to grasp why Britain has become so much less pleasant a country in which to live. The book is elegantly written, conscientiously argued, provocative and fiercely committed... His measured polemics arouse disgust, shame and despair: they will shake many readers' views of their physical surroundings and cultural assumptions, and have an enriching power to improve the way that people think and act.
A supportive review appeared in News Weekly, who stated that "It is rare for a book on social issues to be so readable, but this is not a work of abstract social theory." The review also stated that "The vividness of Dalrymple's prose and the remorseless logic of his arguments make this a formidable work. Anyone concerned about the fate of Western civilisation should read this book."