Dear England

[Don]

Dear England.

I'm not English, I am Welsh, I chose to move here. I married an English Rose with no regrets.

Telegraph

Personally I don't believe this for a second. England is a wonderful country, people and nation. It's more welcoming than almost anywhere on earth, whilst also being a proud and individual place. When I have announced my own nationality I've had more interest than prejudice on every occasian and yet - no-one I have EVER met has been ashamed of their own origin.

So I call this BS. The English are a proud, happy and confident nation - despite what the tabloids might want to project...and patriotic too.

Does anyone think different? Really?

[mybrainhurts]

I have to admit to no longer giving a toss, after 13 years of government shafting and creeping control...

If I were younger with no ties, I'd be out of here like a shot...

Sorry...

[Tangent Police]

Socialism.

Smash national pride, smash traditional community.

Replace with acceptable communitarian pursuits.

Watch your local pub be regulated into oblivion, but if you want to create a religious poetry class for the disabled, you could get £100,000 of grants from those with a communitarian agenda.

What is more of a threat is the cult of the individual. People are focussed on themselves and traditional goodwill-to-all is going out the window.

You can get a nice place out in the country where people are still well behaved and nice, but there is a rot taking place.

I sound like my dad, but a successful future is not the product of eutopian social engineering.

[rypt]

mybrainhurts said:

I have to admit to no longer giving a toss, after 13 years of government shafting and creeping control...

This, I'm proud of Britain/England but now I just don't give a toss mostly due to it going down the pan

[Tangent Police]

rypt said:

mybrainhurts said:

I have to admit to no longer giving a toss, after 13 years of government shafting and creeping control...

This, I'm proud of Britain/England but now I just don't give a toss mostly due to it going down the pan

Whilst you're at it, try and pay as little tax as possible

[rypt]

Tangent Police said:

rypt said:

mybrainhurts said:

I have to admit to no longer giving a toss, after 13 years of government shafting and creeping control...

This, I'm proud of Britain/England but now I just don't give a toss mostly due to it going down the pan

Whilst you're at it, try and pay as little tax as possible

That generally goes hand in hand with mostly high tax countries

[XJSJohn]

As an Englishman living oversees i am proud to be English and part of the British Isles.

I am not proud of our current government but that is something different and (hopefully) very short term compaired to my nationality.

Again, as someone living oversees, i realise how lucky i am to have the UK Passport when i see the travel complications that many people (for example from African Nations, China, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand etc etc) have, or the oversees tax burden that holders of American passports have.

Living in a former colony of the Empire, and in a house that was built by the British also enhances this pride.

We wil be selebrating St Georges Day with am 8lb (note not Kilo's) Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pud. (although admitedly this will be a day late on Saturday)

I will not however be able to fly the flag of St George as i live on Government Property and they take things serious about that sort of thing ....

[Blue Meanie]

XJSJohn said:

I will not however be able to fly the flag of St George as i live on Government Property and they take things serious about that sort of thing ....

You're in jail aren't you? Long stretch?

[XJSJohn]

Blue Meanie said:

XJSJohn said:

I will not however be able to fly the flag of St George as i live on Government Property and they take things serious about that sort of thing ....

You're in jail aren't you? Long stretch?

Bah my carefully built PH cover story blown by one stupid coment

its a fair cop guv!

[Guybrush]

Creeping socialism (with hints of communism) under Labour (and the Lib Dems if they had the chance) is slowly destroying what made England a great place to live.

[speedchick]

Red rose button holes have been ordered from the local florist, it's my Grandad's funeral on Friday, and we will be wearing them in his and my Nanna's honour, as she always had a rose for St George's Day.

[Hugo a Gogo]

[quote]Ireland was the UK nation where people were most likely to display their national flag.
[/quote]

oh dear

[Hugo a Gogo]

btw, I also think the article is a load of crap

I think that probably more English people associate more with 'Britain' than in Scotland and Wales, and quite likely no-one in the world gives a monkeys about patron saints.

[HundredthIdiot]

I didn't appreciate my Englishness until I left the country, and I really enjoy my visits although it feels increasingly foreign.

There does seem to be some cultural "being an ahole to complete strangers for the sake of it" characteristic which annoyed me increasingly when I lived in England, although that was almost certainly just London.

I do wish the English would try and be a bit more optimistic about the future. Moaning about how bad stuff is when you're in one of the richest countries in the world is poor form.

[sidicks]

HundredthIdiot said:

I would try and be a bit more optimistic about the future. Moaning about how bad stuff is when you're in what used to be one of the richest countries in the world is poor form.

EFA

[Frankeh]

Patriotism for what we have achieved in the past, however the past 70 years have basically been us just undoing all the good work we did before.

There's not much left to be proud of.

[Halb]

HundredthIdiot said:

There does seem to be some cultural "being an ahole to complete strangers for the sake of it" characteristic which annoyed me increasingly when I lived in England, although that was almost certainly just London.

I found that with London. Least friendly majot city I have visited.

[Frankeh]

Halb said:

HundredthIdiot said:

There does seem to be some cultural "being an ahole to complete strangers for the sake of it" characteristic which annoyed me increasingly when I lived in England, although that was almost certainly just London.

I found that with London. Least friendly majot city I have visited.

Surely most large cities are like that. I've heard the same stereotype about New York and I know Paris is like that, although they're french so being an asshole is just their thing.

[Rude-boy]

I am proud to be English.

I just don't make much of a fuss about it as, well, that wouldn't be very English of me.

[HundredthIdiot]

Frankeh said:

Halb said:

HundredthIdiot said:

There does seem to be some cultural "being an ahole to complete strangers for the sake of it" characteristic which annoyed me increasingly when I lived in England, although that was almost certainly just London.

I found that with London. Least friendly majot city I have visited.

Surely most large cities are like that. I've heard the same stereotype about New York and I know Paris is like that, although they're french so being an asshole is just their thing.

In New York there is a kind of charm about it, a casual bluntness that's not really meant to be taken seriously. Maybe that's rosy holiday specs.

In London people who really ought to know better can just be incredibly thoughtless and callous - in my experience, and I worked with some non-Brits in London who felt this even more strongly. I still love London as a city, I just find some of the behaviour a bit grating.