Popular Post chrisp65 Posted July 17, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted July 17, 2014 Never mind the asians and people of sexy skin colour. I'm still pissed off about all the anglo saxons coming over here and pushing us real brits to the periphery. Don't even get me started on the bloody Huguenots. Once we get rid of the 'english' we can worry about these more recent hoards. -------- Sounds a bit silly really, doesn't it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 This ^ one hundred and fifty million times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 (edited) Who cares who lives on which rock anyway? Do birds come under this kind of scrutiny when they migrate? Edited July 17, 2014 by Wainy316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Who cares who lives on which rock anyway? Do birds come under this kind of scrutiny when they migrate? fit ones are always welcome 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Never mind the asians and people of sexy skin colour. I'm still pissed off about all the anglo saxons coming over here and pushing us real brits to the periphery. Don't even get me started on the bloody Huguenots. Once we get rid of the 'english' we can worry about these more recent hoards. -------- Sounds a bit silly really, doesn't it. Wasn't the conversation originally about national pride and how the Americans , who are pretty much all immigrants , have embraced the concept of America , fly the flag , speak the language etc And the apparent lack of this embrace by immigrants coming to the UK And now it's turned into a history lesson on who the English are !! I don't see anyone calling for an end to immigration i think it was more a case of asking why are the communities in Bradford are seemingly more Indian than British and not flying Union flags in their lawns whilst signing up to our military to invade far flung oil rich lands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I think mine was a response to people linking accents or dress code or looking different to not being British. Noticing somebody in the office is black or wears a turban or has an accent or whatever means absolutely nothing, it certainly doesn't mean they are 'foreign'. I'd prefer to get a selfie with Mo Farah than Nigel Farage. In fact, that name Farage sounds suspiciously continental to me. Anybody arriving from abroad and being shocked at that can **** off back to bongo bongo land. But I don't want to get bogged down in that boring stuff. -- PIES - nobody does pies like us. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Union Jacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 I think mine was a response to people linking accents or dress code or looking different to not being British. Noticing somebody in the office is black or wears a turban or has an accent or whatever means absolutely nothing, it certainly doesn't mean they are 'foreign'. I'd prefer to get a selfie with Mo Farah than Nigel Farage. In fact, that name Farage sounds suspiciously continental to me. Anybody arriving from abroad and being shocked at that can **** off back to bongo bongo land. But I don't want to get bogged down in that boring stuff. -- PIES - nobody does pies like us. Have to disagree Mo Farah eats Quorn ... I'd rather be photographed 24 deep in a bar in magaluf than with a veggie Only savoury pies mind , ones with fruit in them can jog on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 17, 2014 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Social media has many positives but has also caused many issues amongst the youth of our nation. There is no middle ground any more. No average. Everything is extreme - amazing or shit - or it gets filtered out. If you want likes or comments you can't just be average. I would be stunned, repeat, stunned if that were a phenomenon unique to the UK. You have basically just described human nature. Maybe it's took until you turned 30 to realise the world is full of bullshit but how many 30 year olds thought the world was going to hell in handbasket when you were 18? How many 30 year olds thought the same when they were 18? This whole is Britain still great thing is bollocks. It's the same as it ever was. Thinking we have left some golden era behind is nostalgia for something that never happened. It can be dangerous too because it's the kind of emotion that groups like the EDL try to tap into. You're both right, and wrong in parts. Of course social media is the same in lots and lots of countries. There can't be many nations on earth where kids aren't glued to their mobile phones, just like our grand parents complained that we were glued to our TVs instead of scrumping apples or whatever they did in the black and white era. Some things though, have definitely got worse, and are undeniably worse in Britain than elsewhere. Binge drinking for example. People have always gone out drinking of course, but NV is right when he says that things are far worse now than they've ever been. I've lived and worked in a lot of the UK over the last 20 odd years, including the South East, Midlands and North West, and the explosion in binge drinking and going out has been extraordinary. I have to say though, that there isn't another country on earth that's as hung up about these sorts of things as us Brits. If there was a World Cup of introspective navel-gazing, we'd win hands down every year. I can only go by my experience. I will concede it is fairly limited, I don't drink alcohol these days and when I did it was really only ever in Nuneaton or Birmingham. Nuneaton is an interesting example, the town is much much better today than it was when I was 18 (I'm 35 now) so I guess it bucks the trend people are alluding to. There is a pretty substantial reason for that though, in the 70s, 80s and 90s the towns military barracks (Gamecock barracks) was home to the Junior Leaders Royal Artillery regiment, a jolly bunch of chaps who liked to get incredibly drunk and kick the shit out of the locals every weekend. Since then the Gurkhas have moved in and town is infinitely less violent, though bar takings are probably down overall at weekends. Maybe that is unique to where I live but like I said, I can only go by my own experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Patriotism is overrated. To be proud of your geographical heritage is nonsensical. Yep. It's just a tool used by people in power to brainwash young men to 'die for their country' in some warzone and for the people left behind to think that's okay. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 anything that inspires fanatical zealotry is obviously dangerous. Doctrines of all kind, be it an autochthonous ethno-cultural attachment to land, religious claptrap, economic ideology ( pure free markets / full on marxism etc ) in any sphere you care to think of. All bullshit that corrupts sensible thinking. That is still a bit different from having an attachment to where you live and all that. I'm not saying I don't miss particular cultural habits when I travel, etc. I like where I live for a reason, but the step up to the nonsense that provokes a misplaced sense of superiority is quite large. Don't think I'm having a go at people being proud of where they live, just saying that all the attitudes are on the same long continuum from complete nomadic disconnection to grrrhghgh get orf my land! i woz ere first wibble wibble etc. There are few places I'd rather live really that Britain so that' sufficiently conclusive we're doing ok. I'd probably be just as content in many ( northern ) european countries, maybe Canada or New Zealand but they all have their minus' too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colhint Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Patriotism is overrated. To be proud of your geographical heritage is nonsensical. Yep. It's just a tool used by people in power to brainwash young men to 'die for their country' in some warzone and for the people left behind to think that's okay. But isn't it part of human nature? All over the world people are generally behind their own country. People mention wars, that's part of it ok. But what about the other stuff, I've never met Mo Farrah, but I felt quite proud when he won Olympic gold. I'm sure there were people all over the world cheering their heroes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 anything that inspires fanatical zealotry is obviously dangerous. Doctrines of all kind, be it an autochthonous ethno-cultural attachment to land, religious claptrap, economic ideology ( pure free markets / full on marxism etc ) in any sphere you care to think of. All bullshit that corrupts sensible thinking. That is still a bit different from having an attachment to where you live and all that. I'm not saying I don't miss particular cultural habits when I travel, etc. I like where I live for a reason, but the step up to the nonsense that provokes a misplaced sense of superiority is quite large. Don't think I'm having a go at people being proud of where they live, just saying that all the attitudes are on the same long continuum from complete nomadic disconnection to grrrhghgh get orf my land! i woz ere first wibble wibble etc. There are few places I'd rather live really that Britain so that' sufficiently conclusive we're doing ok. I'd probably be just as content in many ( northern ) european countries, maybe Canada or New Zealand but they all have their minus' too. Yes but I think the question still has to be why is almost every other nation (allowed) to be proud of where they live but in Britain it's frowned upon ( see this thread for example ) Now true a lot of those flag flying Nations are living under Dictatorships and despots and they don't enjoy the same freedoms that you and I do ( and I don't just mean America here ) but even those people still seem to have pride in their country Obviously where i was born is a matter of accident rather than design , so I don't go for this God's chosen people stuff , BUT i happened to be born in England so why shouldn't I then be allowed to embrace this country and it's past glories (and failures) , I'm allowed to be fanatical about Aston Villa over Chelsea or Bolton ..so why can't that be the same for England over the cheese eating surrender monkeys for example I'm not sure that being proud of where you live equates to zealotry tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) One thing which is great about the British is that we are all languorous geniuses, determined to earn a quick buck for doing as little as possible. We are a population of individuals all with a great idea but who lack the energy to make anything on a grand scale. We have the best automotive engineers in the world but we can't manage to run a car factory because it just takes too much effort. We would all rather be in our sheds writing our magnum opus or inventing our cold fusion cell than run a factory, so we leave it to foreigners. We scorn the Germans for having their own car companies and for continuing to manufacture stuff they could get made in China or Korea for big profits and no effort at all. We scorn the Japanese because they don't have those big science ideas like Higgs and his boson or Berners-Lee and just make money from exploiting one of our old ideas we discarded in our languid apathy. And, who the hell would want to work as hard as the Japanese? We decided a long time ago that there were easier ways to make money than actually making stuff, so we let foreigners run our manufacturing and decided that dodgy banking was far more lucrative; and anyone who couldn't get a job in banking, could always become estate agents or turn their old council house into a single item portfolio of property speculation and take satisfaction in seeing it earn more money in a year than they earn at their non-jobs. The proles are too lazy to have a revolution and the political classes just dream of being accountable for nothing and have nothing to do but drink their subsidised booze in Westminster and leave all the law-making to Europe. They are doing their absolute best to sell off the NHS because dealing with its problems is just too demanding, and the accountability is too onerous, when they could be watching their Polish gardener trim their wisteria or paint their duck-house. But we can't complain because Britain's rentier class, which despite dating back to the Normans still owns most of the country, offers a fantastic role-model for the rest of us and we can feel free to follow their example and do as little as we can get away with. So we welcome our immigrants in the grateful knowledge that there are a lot of shitty jobs which need doing for shitty money, which leaves us free to spend the equity from the latest housing boom, down on Gin Lane. Edited July 18, 2014 by MakemineVanilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 (edited) the zealotry bit was a direct addition to what villa89 said really, rather than the thread topic generally I admit. I think that a lot of Brits are just uncomfortable with overt displays of patriotism and differentiating between a celebration of where they come from and displaying belligerence towards others. Maybe it's a bit of awareness of history and the dangers of developing that mindset further, maybe it's a bit of PC culture, but I also think it's in part due to "our" sense of humour - we've got a pretty long tradition in taking the piss and being self deprecating. Most of that piss taking is often directed at people and institutions that take themselves far too seriously. And a lot of chatter around patriotism can come across as quite basic and simple at times and ridiculously over the top - hence piss taking. I think there's an automatic mindset to respond to solipstic claims to brilliance on individual or collective levels. Also, maybe it's to do with being a more individualistic society, pushing back against being pulled into some collective label and not wanting to be associated with other people's definitions. We have a multitude of communities that carry so many different traditions and values, that is Britain great? Is just too broad a question. Or maybe I'm talking out of my arse. Probably the safer bet. Edited July 18, 2014 by Rodders 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I don't like patriotism or nationalism. I love so many countries and their people I find the belief that Nationalism makes people believe they are as a country better than others. Which is just silly. Anyway, I love London. It's one of the best cities in the entire world. I'd certainly call it a great city, it's the capital of a great country. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I don't like patriotism or nationalism. aren't your from Ireland , the nation whose inhabitants spend all their time telling everyone they are from Ireland , whilst brainwashing the whole world into celebrating St Patricks day ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Let's face it, everybody wants to celebrate St Patricks day. We don't need to brainwash anyone. We let the Guinness do that We do (or at least did) deserve our reputation as welcoming and hospitible people. New Zealanders are great for that too. But all peoples pale in comparison to the genuine friendly and always hosiptible Colombians. Make us Irish look like Pariseans by comparison!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 FAGGOTS I bloody love faggots. The Bullmastif Caff, upstairs in Cardiff Market (I think that paints the picture and tells you everything you need to know), they do a giant bowl of faggots swimming in mushy peas with a slice of gravy on the top, a mug of tea and two pieces of buttered white sliced. Freekin' awesome Great Britain grub. You can have a sidey of chips with it too, but I'm on a health kick. Stick that up your tex mex / pan asian / french / italian cuisine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I've always found the english people very friendly and welcoming. Same goes for the irish, but I've only been there once about 23 years ago. But I'd like to go there again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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