>
New Topic
>
Reply<
Esato Forum Index
>
General discussions >
Non mobile discussion
> Being British
Bookmark topic
I had a Scottish friend who often spoke about scratching his sporon....or tossing his caber...or sharpening his claymore....
BTW, I've been to Scotland on several occasions and have very fond memories of all the places that we've been to up there.
Have yet to check out the Isle of Skye and the mulls lower along the west coast, though.
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 18:32:26
Edit :
Quote
I'm british and extremely proud!
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 18:43:11
Edit :
Quote
So why do we have four teams who can play in euro/world cup games? Should we not just take the best players a play under Britain?
If ask i will tell someone i'm English rather than British, I have no Irish or Wlsh in me (i have some Scottish but only a wee bit)!
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 18:47:35
Edit :
Quote
I don't say english, i say british, it's more traditional, the union jack etc britain is our nation, we should be one country i feel, but still...
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 19:12:59
Edit :
Quote
I have to admit I tend to say I'm English!
The Scottish, Welsh, and Irish are proud of their nationalities, why not be able to call myself English? Doesn't seem fashionable to be English, much more fashionable to be some kind of persecuted minority it seems!
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 20:26:49
Edit :
Quote
Quote:
On 2006-01-27 15:37:35, methylated_spirit wrote:
Being British is also about being English, to a large extent. I certainly don't consider myself to be British, which is a prevailing feeling north of the border.
I beg to differ. Most Scots still identify with being British and see value in being British. Hence we see more support for pro-Union parties than for pro-Independence parties.
I don't think it would be terribly uncommon to find that, especially amongst younger people, pro-independence sentiments are more to do with following a trend or appearing 'cool'. Films such as Braveheart whip some people up into a frenzy of nationalism and patriotism based upon innaccurate history and misplaced anti-English feelings.
When one actually has a conversation with such people one finds that some of them base their views on such notions as 'Scotland being oppressed' or 'England taking Scottish resources', etc. Such views reinforce a victim mentality and are based more on hearsey and conjecture than actual fact. If you point out discrepancies in these arguments some people will fall back upon claims that Scotland should be independent because it is a country in its own right and that it deserves to be able to decide its own affairs. Again one can simply point out that Scots are already able to vote for their own leaders, stand for election themselves and indeed hold many important posts in government (including that of Chancellor). One can further point out that in voting a majority of Scots consistently vote for the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, neither of which advocate a dissolution of the union.
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 20:34:11
Edit :
Quote
@ Sammy_Boy
There is a great deal more to the cultural identities of the celtic nations that a sense of persecution at the hands of the English.
Arguably, the reason why there is a crisis of English identity has more to do with the fact that large parts of English history have to do with Empire building. It's not so much that it's cool to be persecuted, as that it's profoundly uncool to be the persecutor.
Of course there's no reason why the English ought not to be proud of their Englishness, as there's a lot more to English cultural history than dubious politics.
David
(Welshman.)
[ This Message was edited by: AlfBaxter on 2006-01-27 19:43 ]
[ This Message was edited by: AlfBaxter on 2006-01-27 19:44 ]
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 20:41:46
Edit :
Quote
Quote:
On 2006-01-27 20:41:46, AlfBaxter wrote:
There is a great deal more to the cultural identities of the celtic nations that a sense of persecution at the hands of the English.
There is indeed, however, a victim culture does seem to have developed in recent years, which some people use to define themselves. I choose to define my Scottishness by things I am proud of that are Scottish, not by perceived injustices by non-Scots.
Quote:
Arguably, the reason why there is a crisis of English identity has more to do with the fact that large parts of English history have to do with Empire building. It's not so much that it's cool to be persecuted, as that it's profoundly uncool to be the persecutor.
That is somewhat misleading. If one looks to the British Empire, for example, one sees that Celts played an active part in the expansion and maintenance of the Empire. Scots, Welsh and Irish settled across the Empire and fought in the Imperial armies. The British Empire was just that, a British Empire.
If one looks at previous English expansion, for instance during the Plantagent period one finds that England, led by a Norman French aristocracy it should be pointed out, sought expansion because it was strong enough to do so within the British Isles and in France because there was a dispute over who should be the King of France. Scotland made its own expansion move when they claimed Northumbria from England based upon an earlier arrangement.
It is perhaps worth pointing out that English expansion really only became a major driving force after the Norman conquest.
Quote:
Of course there's no reason why the English ought not to be proud of their Englishness, as there's a lot more to English cultural history that dubious politics.
David
(Welshman.)
Yes I quite agree.
_________________
"I may be drunk my dear woman, but in the morning I will be sober, and you will still be ugly." WSC
[ This Message was edited by: scotsboyuk on 2006-01-27 19:59 ]
--
Posted: 2006-01-27 20:58:21
Edit :
Quote
Im British.. Though an expat living in Malaysia with my wife who is Chinese .. After retiring from service as an Army Officer. Though Proud to be British the days of the Empire are gone sadly and today with the world being what it is I consider myself a citizen of the world.. Nations and Nationalism are becoming relics of the past ..
--
Posted: 2006-01-28 01:37:00
Edit :
Quote
@SsTiTcH
One can still have pink gins on the lawn and raise a glass to Her Majesty no matter where one is in the world.
--
Posted: 2006-01-29 16:59:32
Edit :
Quote
New Topic
Reply
