Proud to be BRITISH?

[prv]

There are Americans who wear T-shirts with slogans "American by birth - Texan (or whichever State) by the grace of God". Of course, Political Correctness would prevent this in UK

Not at all - a friend of mine has a T-shirt with "British by birth, English by the grace of God". Seems a little silly to me, I think of myself as British first and foremost rather than English, but ho hum.

Pete

 

[Sandyman]

Margaret Thatcher? ;-)

Ha Ha Ha I laughed so much I nearly shat masen

 

[petedg]

Democracy

[Britain has] "A misplaced sense of superiority, sustained by delusions of grandeur and a tenacious obsession with the last war."
(Nick Clegg). Whatever one thinks of him as a politician, that description fits, IMO.

When I first went permanently abroad as an expatriate a lifetime or two ago, the conception of an Englishman was one of a gentleman with high standards of tolerance and fair play; a person of character and quality. It took a long time to die out, even through the years of football hooliganism, when exported abroad. But now I think that image (never very accurate) has finally become defunct, replaced by the primitive, tattooed and pierced, binge-drinking, lager-lout Brit, causing mayhem wherever he gathers in tribal groups throughout the world. To observe them at play is truly cringeworthy.

I now travel everywhere on my Swiss passport (not easy to obtain from a country practicing more democracy than the UK) and avoid being associated with the Brit abroad. Visa-free access has never been a problem in the many countries I travelled to on business and pleasure and certainly not any reason for patriotism and pride. The oft-repeated quotation from Dr Johnson: "patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel" rings so true despite interpretation that what he meant was false patriotism.

It's easy to have Swiss style democracy in a country with only 8 million people. The Swiss banks are in the news again for possible exchange rate fixing.
Still proud to be British!

 

[Jegs]

Proof of the pudding is surely in the eating; simply reflect how many people from around the world would prefer to live in England or the USA rather than the gutters that they & their ancestors have created.

John G

 

[BrianH]

It's easy to have Swiss style democracy in a country with only 8 million people.

You make a very valid point but do not underestimate the difficulties of managing such a democracy with four official languages and very diverse cultural attitudes between the eastern, western and southern regions that have very porous borders with four influential neighbours.

I am no advocate for democracy by referenda, which I regard as abrogation of responsibility by elected officials at all levels from federal to local, but I participate because I see it as my duty to do so (as a British expatriate I became immediately disenfranchised - although later a five-year grace was enabled). However, it is a royal pain dealing with the mountains of bumpf connected with current issues that thud into my mailbox on a regular basis.

The Swiss banks are in the news again for possible exchange rate fixing.

And Barclays, the arch mover in the LIBOR scandals, is not? Come on, I'm no apologist for Swiss banks despite having commentated on an apparently active effort to clean up their tarnished reputation - purely for commercial gain, I'm sure - but I class them all, wherever their national base is, in the same barely legal Mafiosi class. And I worked as a supplier to banks all over the world until my retirement.

 

[charles_reed]

The opposite sentiment - whenever I see the Daily Mail embarking on one of its hysterical campaigns, illustrating the less desirable traits in the British psyche.

It's at those times that I want to creep away and hide.

 

[macd]

The opposite sentiment - whenever I see the Daily Mail embarking on one of its hysterical campaigns, illustrating the less desirable traits in the British psyche.

It's at those times that I want to creep away and hide.

Now isn't that more like genuine patriotism?: wanting your country to be better rather than blindly asserting that it already is, always will be, for ever and ever and....I think I'm going to be sick.

(And, yes, this should probably have decamped to the lounge a while ago.)

 

[macd]

The opposite sentiment - whenever I see the Daily Mail embarking on one of its hysterical campaigns, illustrating the less desirable traits in the British psyche.

It's at those times that I want to creep away and hide.

Now isn't that more like genuine patriotism?: wanting your country to be better rather than blindly asserting that it already is, always will be, for ever and ever and....I think I'm going to be sick.

 

[Sandyman]

Now isn't that more like genuine patriotism?: wanting your country to be better rather than blindly asserting that it already is, always will be, for ever and ever and..

Of course it is. You know its true because the politicians constantly tell you it is.
I mean, Britain has the best armed forces in the world with the very latest equipment.
You have the best medical services, the best fire services, the best road & rail systems, the best food, in fact the best of anything in the world. You know this to be true because the politicians tell you it is so. And they never lie do they.

 

[macd]

To lay all that solely at the door of politicians, however scabrous a breed they often are, smacks of being just a mental crutch for the undiscerning.

 

[Sybarite]

Makes me feel a bit better on a grumpy day


Being British really does open doors! UK passport holders can visit 173 countries without a visa
Passports
The UK’s citizens are on a par with those from Finland and Sweden for visa-free access - while nine out of the top ten in a new index are European Union countries.

Peter

I have spent 2/3 of my life outside of the Uk and have lived in 6 different countries. My feeling is that there are no significant differences between individuals in any of those countries.

No country has a monopoly of intelligence (except maybe Ulster...) courage, generosity or whatever.

 

[kunyang]

I hope the daily mail doesn't get hold of this thread

 

[macd]

I hope the daily mail doesn't get hold of this thread

This thread is a fact. The Mail won't go near it.

 

[Steve C Cronin]

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.
George Bernard Shaw

Each nation feels superior to other nations. That breeds patriotism - and wars.
Dale Carnegie

Could you have picked any other two lesser intellectuals or more self opinionated individuals?

 

[Koeketiene]

Could you have picked any other two lesser intellectuals or more self opinionated individuals?

In the face of your towering intellect everyone is a lesser intellectual.
As for self opinionated...

 

[GHA]

On a practical note it is a good passport to travel with.

Which is just as well, you really need to get away for some decent cheap street food and nice weather.

 

[rotrax]

Democracy is superior to dictatorship.

Not necessarily. A benign dictatorship could be a very good system.

Not been too many of those though......................

 

[BrianH]

Not necessarily. A benign dictatorship could be a very good system.
Not been too many of those though......................

Have you ever lived under such a regime? I have, in Madrid during the early 1970s. All the right-wing die-hards (similar to many of our lounge lizards) assured me it was benign and how Spain was saved from a communist hell, but I was sceptical at the time. Especially when a friend of my wife was taken to the headquarters of the political police in Puerto del Sol and didn't emerge for three months after a life-changing experience there. The reason was she had stored some political pamphlets for her boyfriend ... He never did emerge.

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." (Winston Churchill).

 

[Jassira]

Not necessarily. A benign dictatorship could be a very good system.

Not been too many of those though......................

at best democracy means the minority are dictated to by the majority and it's been a long time since our government got anywhere close to 50% of the vote. The reality is closer to 3 guys in a bar voting for who will pick up the tab.

 

[tri39]

I think we've reached a point where vocal minorities are dictating to (Nixon's) silent majority.
Perhaps it be more accurate to say democracy is the least worst option.
My blue passport cover seems to contain a red EU passport.
Are we proud to be european!?