University of Virginia Library

Conserving Tradition's Order

ful Perisian game of
(Indeed, the natives
udder over prospects of
ling with mercurial
peraments on the
Continen.) Cliques everywhere
ure alienation for the
stranger. And indifference about
important human issues, if one
follows reports in the media, is
widespread.

The endless controversy
over "Popery," the latest
soccer results, and the high
cost of tobacco and brown ale
are the only obvious
exceptions to apathy.

No doubt to the dismay of
many, student militancy
continues at the University and
even in town. My impression is
that the few activists around
are from outside of Scotland,
but the issues are the same as
everywhere— participation,
representation, a piece of the
action. "Immature" attitudes
toward authority are gaining
some ground, but most
students are by and large rather
docile.

But this should not be
taken as a sign of weakness.
Townies and students alike
appear to be fiercely
independent in spirit. Every
law passed in Parliament in
London must be separately
debated and separately passed
as a Tartan law. Small children
are commonly allowed to
travel long distances from
home to school. In this
comparatively crime-less city,
they keep later hours, work
harder, and I think play harder
than schoolchildren at home.
The young seem more
self-reliant at an earlier age
than in the States.

In Great Britain, and
therefore in Scotland, popular
U.S. expressions like "power to
the people" or "grass roots"
have little meaning; a
theoretical notion like the
"continual vulgarization of
cultural models" has no
significance for a country
outside of our American
melting pot. Not surprisingly,
America's most important
contribution to history may in
the end be our "of, by and
for" revolution, our fiery
life-giving force. Apparently its
thunder was never really heard
here.

The lethargic Lion just
happily smoothed its bed of
rebellious thorns and carries
on, conserving the order of
tradition.