to displace the nation-state from its positionrnin popular loyalties faces. A sense ofrnplace and continuity is crucial to the harmonyrnof individuals and societies. It isrnchallenged by the continued process ofrnchange, a process that entails the alteration,rninvention, and reinvention of traditions.rnExcept in periods when there isrna stress on the value of a break with thernpast, change is in large part acceptable tornmuch of the population only if it doesrnnot disrupt their sense of continuity toornseriously. The impact of disrupting this,rnby minor changes, such as altering coinsrnand telephone kiosks, or by more sweepingrnsocial changes, such as the collapse ofrntraditional shopping patterns and practices,rnor the enforced movement of peoplernfrom condemned housing into modernrnprojects that lack much of a sense ofrncommunity, can cause much anxietyrnand irritation, and a more insidious lossrnof a sense of identity and community.rnAt this crucial level, the notion of Europeanrncommunity is valuable if its institutionalrnpretensions and prerogatives dornnot range too widely and are restricted byrnthe preservation of a major role for thernnation-state. Telling people and theirrnelected representatives that, as they arernEuropeans, they must act, indeed think,rnin a certain fashion is unacceptable in arndemocratic society. In defending thernconfiguration and continuity of Britishrnpractices, politicians are not fighting forrnselfish national interests but for the sensernof the living past that is such a vital componentrnof a people’s understanding, acceptance,rnand appreciation of their ownrnsociety and identity.rnferemy Black is a professor of history atrnthe University of Durham.rnLetter From Chilernby William MillsrnThe Attraction OffshorernWith the government seizing at leastrnhalf our incomes each year and thern”multi-diversity” crowd sowing seeds ofrnanger and disunity that could well lead torncivil war down the road, I hear more andrnmore people talking of places to relocaternthemselves and their capital: NewrnZealand, Australia, Switzerland, andrnCosta Rica. And Chile. Chile? Isn’trnthat where a kinder, gentler Socialist-rnCommunist coalition elected SalvadorrnAllende in 1970 and a brutal militaryrncoup took place in 1975? That’s the onlyrnversion I knew about back then, certainlyrnthe only version being discussedrnon college campuses. Thus it was surprisingrnto listen to a Chilean friend recentlyrnwho was in the United States tornstudy English for a few months say arngood word about Pinochet, the armyrngeneral who governed the country fromrn1973 to 1989. At that tune Pinochetrnstood for election, lost, and steppedrndown. Felipe, my Chilean friend, describedrnthe stability that had taken holdrnwhile Pinochet was in office. Inflationrnholding at around nine percent and anrneconomy that no longer depended on arnsingle industry, mining.rnHe also explained how the first majorrndisruption of Chilean democracy hadrntaken place. After all, virtually twothirdsrnof the people had voted against Allendernin 1970. Due to a peculiarity ofrnthe Chilean Constitution, when one ofrnthe candidates does not gain a simplernmajority, the Congress decides. ThernChristian Democrats (similar to our ownrnDemocrats in many ways), who hadrncome in third, cut a deal with the radicalrnleft, and the rest is history. Much wasrnmade of the demand that Allende signrn”guarantees” that he would follow thernconstitution, guarantees which lasted arnNew York minute. By 1973, with therneconomy and the constitution in shambles,rneven the Christian Democrats wererncalling for a coup.rnAfter my friend suggested I come andrnlook for myself, and after, coincidcntally,rnthe editor of an investment newsletterrnannounced he had moved to Santiagorn(his words, “You know it as well as I do:rnthe America we grew up to know andrntrust is no longer the land of the free.rnThat is why I had to leave.”), I decided torngo south. I wanted to meet some writersrnand artists, and since my wife couldn’trngo, the trip could serve as cover for flyfishingrnChile’s famous trout streams, escapingrnthe February snows of Missouri.rnI was invited to dinner my very firstrnnight in Santiago by Felipe’s Englishrnconversation teacher, Charley McCarthy,rnan American retired from therncruise ship business, and his Chileanrnwife, Marta. Over Pastel de Choela andrngood local red wine, we held a wide-ranging,rnmarvelously civilized conversation,rnwhich included the other guests, Marta’srnbrother, a neuro-radiologist and his educatorrnwife. I mentioned wanting to talkrnwith Jose Donoso, perhaps Chile’s bestknownrnnovelist—well, the good doctorrnknew Donoso’s brother, also a physician.rnHe would try to make contact during thernweek. (I was never to succeed. Donosornhad fallen very ill in Spain, and was beingrntreated in a local clinic.) We talked, ofrncourse, of Neruda, and his fellow communist,rnVolodia Teitelboim, author of arnbiography of Neruda I had read beforernleaving home. Teitelboim, formeriy thernparty leader in Chile, had until recentlyrnbeen passing his time in Russia, everrnsince Pinochet came to power. AnotherrnStateside friend had written a letter of introductionrnto Jorge Edwards, also a wellknownrnwriter. Someone left our table torngive him a call (everyone I met in Chilernseemed to know the person you mentioned,rnor to know his cousin who did),rnreturning to say Edwards was currently atrnthe embassy in Paris. I called NicanorrnParra myself since I had met him earlierrnin the United States, and learned he wasrnat the beach.rnWhat I hadn’t figured on was that everyonernwho could leave the city was gonernuntil school started the first week inrnMarch. Well, when in Chile, do whatrnthe Chileans do; I drove south with Felipernthe next day, and while he enjoyedrnthe air in Pucon (some eight hundredrnkilometers to the south), I fly-fished thernTrancura River. I was told by the guidernthat the fishing was even better aroundrnCoyhaique in the Aisen region (2,300rnkilometers from Santiago). After dallyingrnin Puerto Montt on the way south, Irnfished the fabulous streams around Coyhaique,rnthe Simpson River and the Nirehuao,rnthe first surrounded by the toweringrnAndes, the second on the edge of thernpampas. All in all, like Colorado orrnWyoming before Barbra Streisand startedrnvisiting. After several days at the endrnof the country in Patagonia around PuntarnArenas and Puerto Natales (there’s arnhotel in the Paine National Forest atrn$400 a day for a single, for those who arerninterested; I had an Austral beer at fiverndollars, the only one to be had for probablyrn75 miles), I flew back to Santiago,rnhoping the locals had returned, andrnthey had . . . in spades. El Centro wasrnjammed.rnWhat’s on the minds of Chileans?rnFor one thing, they were upset with Pres-rnOCTOBER 1995/39rnrnrn