A phrase heard from scholars and pundits alike: the American Dream is dead and the United States of America is a post-truth experiment gone wrong. Some have disagreed, but now in the year of 2025, it is a claim vindicated with flying colours. Even in times of left-wing government, the USA’s economic style has been a ruthless free for all, and I do see this new Republican administration as something karmic and inevitable. A personification of greed, ego, deception, and fear, it reflects all the sins of a country which let personal gain take control of their society. That attitude only leads one direction, and for a country that is the supposed bastion of the first world, to actually have a decreasing life expectancy is simply unacceptable. In the words of President Von der Leyen of the European Commission in her address this month: “Our illusions are being shattered.”
What is obvious now, and made clear in that speech, is that Europe has grown too comfortable under the stewardship and protection of America. Put in the position of the United States burning bridges, tariffing, and revoking its support for fellow nations, European countries are struggling to find strength in separation. Were we ever a strong nation if we took the Western hegemony for granted? A slightly unfair question, since one of the great strengths of the West is in its friendships, whether through military alliances like NATO, or unions of culture and trade. An unfair question, yet a necessary one in these uncertain times. Are we secure? And will we prosper in the multi-polar world order? What is for certain is there was a vulnerability in our mindset. Our belief that we could always rely on overseas allies, and the political and cultural models they embody, was in fact an illusion.
There is a tough road ahead to untangle ourselves from the United States web, as we have a huge dependence on American business and capital. That, coupled with a culture of welcoming overseas buyouts, our agency as a nation grows thinner every year. There has been very little in the way of active policy from the government to protect British assets in the market, and America has been one of the biggest players to take advantage of that lax attitude. They have bought out huge swathes of NHS supply lines plus IT management, and the defence industry, once the crown jewel of British global influence, has had half of its companies pilfered by US giants. Ultra Electronics, Cobham, and Meggitt were all sold off to US firms, and just last month private equity firm Bain Capital made a £1.1 billion bid for the Hampshire-based defence group Chemring. This time though the British establishment are holding the line. Military brass and politicians have called for the protection of this 119 year old defence company, and Keir Starmer himself has made a pledge that the UK government will not let more British defence companies fall abroad. Perhaps there is a recent realisation that America is no longer worth the price of doing business with.
Although our current government is attempting to hold the line, so much has already been lost. Is this too little too late? We have given up so much of our local industry from last century’s deindustrialisation, and still today it is being sold off. It is all well and good to offshore our business into a global system that we believe in, but when that system fails, what are we left with? For inspiration we look to Europe, France being the prime example.
France has laid a foundation of independence that has landed them a secure position in today’s climate. Their preference for their own nuclear power plants affords them one of the highest levels of energy independence in Europe. They have high food security as the largest wheat producer in Europe, and 5th largest in the world. Their life expectancy is at a healthy 83, and of course as a holder of nuclear weapons, they are primed to take centre stage in the New Europe. In that secure position, they have led the way in the latest Ukraine negotiations and further bolstered military support for the country. In contrast to the UK, France has a full government agency dedicated to managing shareholdings in companies of strategic importance known as the State Participations Agency (APA). As of 2022, the agency held €732 billion worth of assets, everything from food to defence. They have successfully protected French businesses from multiple takeovers, including talking down Yahoo’s bid for Dailymotion, and blocking a Pepsi takeover of the bottled water and dairy company Danone. The UK does similarly own some companies, but they are few and far between in comparison, and mainly consist of public services like the NHS. Yet even rail was lost and privatised, and there have been fears for years that the same will happen to the NHS.
This French system seems the perfect blueprint, but this was based on years of infrastructure and build-up. The United Kingdom must live with its mistakes, yet need this be as bleak as we all fear it is? I am an underdog at heart, and when things get sticky I cannot back down. Some people thrive in that grey-zone between imminent defeat and absurd success, and I would like to posit that as a solution to our dilemma: a problem can always be transformed into an opportunity. This American crisis is a chance for us to rethink our idols and our principles, and start to reshape what it means to be a country in the West. We must stop looking to America to lead the way, in all aspects. We need new political standards, and a new cultural direction.
Culture is an often forgotten part of democracy, as it is culture that defines the voting base, and it is of course the voting base that defines the government. The way people feel is the ultimate factor of how most will vote, and this is the theory that we have seen manifest in so many countries in the past decade. Cultural movements that motivate people to go out and vote, swaying results in favour of the party that is culturally on-side. Brexit, Reform, MAGA, ANO, Geert Wilders, Georgian Dream, you name it. It has much less to do with policy, and much more to do with hot topics that voters connect with. In a culture that lacks meaning, and in a country that has been disenfranchised, extreme ideologies bubble up, and inevitably capture the public imagination. People need meaning in their lives, and if they lose touch with national pride or purpose, they gravitate towards an extreme form.
So what is the solution? A tough question, as the left-wing of this decade has been defined by their inability to grapple with these populist movements. Yet that is the solution is it not? Meaning, inspiration, and healthy national pride. If we had that, these extreme ideologies would never have achieved the foothold they have today. In fact, among my generation, people actually have a distaste for the country, and for those who have been disenfranchised, there is nothing left to fight for or work towards. Healthy nationalism has faded away and returned as unhealthy extremism. There is no inspiration in government anymore, and it is that lack of inspiration, in my opinion, that is doing the real damage in politics today. Pride is a tricky thing, and too often slides into ego, which the UK is absolutely guilty of. However we simply will not survive in the multipolar world order with a dumbed down defeatist attitude. Whatever happened to British grit? That daring spirit that drove countries through some of their darkest times can be as potent as any weapon. Is this not the spark that made our country flourish in the first place?
Time to divorce ourselves from the cultural wasteland that is the United States and build something better. Bold ideas, entrepreneurship, political engagement, protection of British assets, and personal growth, will all be key solutions to thriving in the New Europe. Why limit ourselves through pessimism? The space sector is booming, our creative industry is known across the world, and our youth culture is vibrant despite its despondency. We have the building blocks to build a better Britain, an enlightened island brimming with renaissance. A pipe dream perhaps, but I would rather dream than be dragged down by megalomania.
