One of the reason the UK is in a mess is maybe because there is a fashion for squaring up for a fight and getting your retaliation in first, and that kind of thing.

It's a cultural virus. It goes with making play of being hyper-confident and hyper-assertive and in a hurry, and never admitting mistakes. It'd be nice to say "blame Maggie Thatcher", but that wasn't it. She only got by because there were a lot of people out there who actually like that style and have been infected by that mindset - and it's at least as characteristic of the Blairistas.