I recall Popper saying that the most stupid form of historicism is the belief in a chosen nation. I’ve heard this manifested by Brexiters arguing that, whatever the damage caused by Brexit, it won’t matter because Britain always comes out on top. “We won Agincourt and Waterloo didn’t we? So we’ll be fine.” It’s an abandonment of the notion of causation in favour of thinking about history as a script. Such people often actually know very little British history and tend to confuse history itself with mythology.
Yes, you're right. Part of this was based on the fact, obvious when you read The Open Society, that while Popper thought that Plato, Aristotle and Marx had caused a lot of harm to western society with their theories, he also acknowledged their towering intellects and was impressed with aspects of their work. The contrast is with Hegel, who Popper thought was a charlatan, a total fraud. Hegel was the one who pushed the "chosen nation" stuff the most and yes, again, you're right that this tendency is evident in Brexitism, the idea that Britain is the "chosen nation" and if we all just believe in that idea hard enough, it will manifest itself in reality.
I wonder if this deviation from traditional conservatism is the reason we've seen several subgroups out-do each other in coming up with new names, e.g. "National Conservatives".
That they have either consciously or subconsciously realized that they are no long fit to be labeled as conservatives in the traditional sense.
I recall Popper saying that the most stupid form of historicism is the belief in a chosen nation. I’ve heard this manifested by Brexiters arguing that, whatever the damage caused by Brexit, it won’t matter because Britain always comes out on top. “We won Agincourt and Waterloo didn’t we? So we’ll be fine.” It’s an abandonment of the notion of causation in favour of thinking about history as a script. Such people often actually know very little British history and tend to confuse history itself with mythology.
Yes, you're right. Part of this was based on the fact, obvious when you read The Open Society, that while Popper thought that Plato, Aristotle and Marx had caused a lot of harm to western society with their theories, he also acknowledged their towering intellects and was impressed with aspects of their work. The contrast is with Hegel, who Popper thought was a charlatan, a total fraud. Hegel was the one who pushed the "chosen nation" stuff the most and yes, again, you're right that this tendency is evident in Brexitism, the idea that Britain is the "chosen nation" and if we all just believe in that idea hard enough, it will manifest itself in reality.
I wonder if this deviation from traditional conservatism is the reason we've seen several subgroups out-do each other in coming up with new names, e.g. "National Conservatives".
That they have either consciously or subconsciously realized that they are no long fit to be labeled as conservatives in the traditional sense.