Newspaper Article

IDEAS Our Newest Ethnic - the English-American Faced with a crisis of morale in Britain its youth are emigrating to the United States at a striking rate.

Tony Fletcher. Tony Fletcher is a music journalist and the author of "Remarks: the Story of R.E.M." (Music Sales).

1993

Overview

In retrospect, those glory days of the 1960s - when British culture first \"invaded\" America - spelled the end of Britain as she was. Though her empire had been steadily disintegrating over the course of the century, still she had maintained a manner of global command. But the success of beat groups from London, Liverpool and beyond presented to the world a new Britain, a cultural leader if not a military and industrial one, a reputation her youth have capitalized upon ever since. Not that all British immigrants land stylish jobs. Such is the lack of opportunity in the UK right now that many Britons are prepared to come here illegally to work in bars or on building sites alongside the Irish, who are often treated as second-class citizens in Britain. One friend of mine who came here was asked whether he could paint (he had no experience but naturally lied) and suddenly found himself renovating a mansion, its owner another believer in the image of Britain as a nation of skilled artisans. If Britain produces so many energetic young people, why then does it seem trapped in the doldrums? Perhaps it's designed that way. Everywhere one turns in Britain one encounters a system that keeps people in line with petty rules and regulations, while the class system fights with the tenacity of a cornered animal to maintain its stranglehold over the upwardly aspiring. Creativity in Britain, of which there is so much, must play by arbitrary rules of acceptability.

• Publisher: Newsday LLC
• Subject: Thatcher, Margaret H