I must be honest, I have always had a large degree of unease over national pride. At the lesser extent no one has ever had a say in where they were born and very few have actually contributed much to make an impact on a country for the greater good so pride here is misplaced. Being proud of something you had absolutely nothing to do with is odd no? Of course at the greater extent is jingoism, xenophobism and nationalism which has never worked out well. That said, patriotism is good in its milder sense and I was interested in this survey (over 2000 people) of what made them be proud to be British. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/this-is-what-makes-people-most-proud-to-be-british-115406496.html In brief: 36% said the NHS 25% said British history 23% said British sense of humour 22% (jointly) said the Monarchy, landscape and architecture If you were polled what would you have answered? I might have said British sense of fair play as well as the architecture and landscape.
1. Tolerance and sense of fair play 2. Beautiful countryside 3. World's best beers 4. Some aspects of history (eg inventors etc)
Inventions Traditions/history Freedom of speech and generally tolerance of the way others live On the downside..... litter, lack of pride in appearance, some lack of respect for others overcrowding in south east England over pricing of pretty much everything binge drinking culture
I'd add Fantastic popular music of many shades A healthy '**** you' attitude to authority exhibited across the spectrum A sense of self deprecation and stoicism Village greens
On the plus side.. Democracy. General tolerance and decency. Inventing the most widely spoken language in the world. London (not everybody's cup of tea I know but nearly all the foreign students I've taught listed it as their favourite city in the world). The beautiful and varied countryside. The Premier League. Wimbledon. Our culture..music, films, theatre etc. On the negative side.. The total lack of democracy in having an unelected Head of State, plus assorted Hangers On. The climate. The lack of an identifiable (and good) national cuisine. (Some) British people when they go abroad. A media that builds up only to knock down. Our Eurovision entry every year.
I want to add the police. You don't appreciate how good they actually are till you see their counterparts abroad.
Genetic superiority. The welfare state has been a catalyst for its decline over the last fifty or so years, but it's clear to me that the majority of other peoples are still vastly inferior to us.
Really? I cant think of anything that the Queen decided that have made any difference to any of our lives. Just a figurehead, not really relevant to our lives, IMO.
It's just an issue for me that we sell ourselves as a big democracy and tell other countries how to behave, then have a herditary and therefore unelected head of state. I respect the arguments about tourism and the draw on foreign visitors etc, and I accept the alternative could be far worse, but i've always been a Republican so..
Yes, but you could look upon it is a different way. Despite the monarchy and it's history, we have developed an accountable and democratically elected government. Glass half full!
