Reading my Boston Globe this morning, I came across this article. It seems there is debate about WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BRITISH. It’s probably a healthy discussion. Understanding nationalism is important. That said, there’s a lot of funny “Saturday Night Live”-type stuff here too. I do worry that this could lead to irreverent cartoons. Resist this impulse. It would be sad to see British citizens and ex-patriots rioting around the world about … well, they don’t seem to know!
Here are some quotes from the article. The link is below.
Gordon Brown, a Scot who is expected to inherit the leadership of Tony Blair’s Labor Party, called for a ''British day" to celebrate the country’s ''unique values" and urged Britons to take pride in their flag. And in November, the government instituted an exam for citizenship applicants based on a 146-page ''Life in the UK" booklet that includes information about cockney dialects, pub manners, and the queen.
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''The reaffirming of a plural, changing, inclusive British identity, which can be as emotionally appealing as the appeal of jihadi sentiments, is critical to isolating and defeating extremism," said Tariq Modood, a professor at Bristol University.
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''British schoolchildren don’t have the same citizenship rituals that American schoolchildren have," she said by telephone. ''Some Brits would find it strange or offensive for schoolchildren to sing the national anthem and have the flag in the classroom."
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''The English have a horror of earnestness, especially the sort of heart-on-sleeve sentimentality and solemnity indulged in by other nations expressing patriotic pride," she said, citing Americans as an example.
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…and customs, public holidays, laws, general facts about the country and the population, how government works, the EU, etc. The book costs ten pounds. More info here: http://www.lifeintheuktest.gov.uk/htmlsite/index.html
''British schoolchildren don’t have the same citizenship rituals that American schoolchildren have," she said by telephone. ''Some Brits would find it strange or offensive for schoolchildren to sing the national anthem and have the flag in the classroom."
I think she means recite the pledge of allegiance, not sing the anthem. And my schools haven’t done this since I was about twelve. Though I will agree about the flags, I see a lot more of them in the states than in the UK.
''The English have a horror of earnestness, especially the sort of heart-on-sleeve sentimentality and solemnity indulged in by other nations expressing patriotic pride," she said, citing Americans as an example.
This is from Kate Fox’s book Watching the English, a very good read.
Some Americans find that strange and offensive, too.
In my E Pluribus Unum class we are currently debating “What does it mean to be American?” and my answer is “nothing” because I don’t consider myself a part of or loyal to any country or nation, only to God and God alone (this is why I don’t say the pledge or the anthem). I think British people should feel the same way (and no doubt, many do).
No-one here seems to appreciate just how canny Gordon Brown has been.
The reason anybody wants a holiday in the first place is that the European Union insists that the UK have more holidays to bring them into line with the rest of Europe. The UK has the fewest holidays of any country in the EU.
Now if Mr Brown admits this, there will be an immediate call for a proper May Day holiday (which the far left, myself included, have been yearning for since … since … for ever!) and an equally strong reaction from those in places of power pontificating about how they are going to lose productive days and it’s all a terrible waste and a damn shame and all the fault of those damned interfering Foreign chaps across the channel, and the worst of it is it gets the workers so damned excited!
But, Look! He has called for a “British” day!
And the rich and powerful are perfectly happy with that, because you must be patriotic, don’t you know, and the workers don’t give a damn what it’s called as long as they get another day off work, and the fourth estate has a wonderful excuse to fill up column inches with all sorts of nonsense about what it means to be British! And the controversy is avoided and Mr Brown looks like a damn good chap (even if he is Scotch) whereas in reality he is a pretty sharp character, whether he is a good chap or not.
What does it mean to be British? I have a British passport. End of story. That is mostly because I live in England. In all other respects I am Irish.
J.E. Smith has it NEARLY right, but that’s English. Eric Idle (of the Monty Python team) collaborated with an artist on the “British Superman”. Mostly he didn’t do much, as his parents insisted vigorously that he did nothing to draw attention to himself. It was a pretty good spoof.
Good point. I’ve been told by English people that I can learn to be British, but I can never learn to be English - it’s something you are either born into or not. If I take and pass the British citizenship test, I’ll be British, but not English, even if I live here for the next fifty years.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, it was illegal for a private individual to fly or wave the Union Jack, or, as we have come to call it, the Union Flag. The suppression of such activities fell into disuse in the great patriotic excesses of the Great Exhibition and Queen Victoria’s various Jubilees. The cotton trade was enabled to sell a quantity of cloth, and the populace was graciously permitted to demonstrate its patriotism and enthusiasm.
The law fell into disuse, but I don’t know if it was ever repealed. I don’t think so - I think it’s still illegal. Perhaps someone can tell me.
After the Boer War, in which the English had to sue for peace (i.e. the Boers won) and the horrifying slaughter of the First World War, the passion for flag-waving diminished somewhat.
Yrupeans have always been a little nervous of American Flag-waving.
You mistake my meaning, Cranberry.
It is the social aspect of flag-waving we find unnerving. It speaks to us of riots, lynch-mobs and McCarthyism.
As for the most powerful military country in the world, in these parts it has a very bad reputation for being undisciplined, trigger-happy, and liable to decimate its allies with “Friendly fire”.
Another Irish chap I met said something similar. He grew up in Ceylon on his family’s tea plantation until the tamils booted them out. He would say:
“I am NOT Celonese I’m Irish - If a puppy was born in a cat box would you call it a kitten??!!”
He was a rather portly gent - an Irishman from Ceylon living in Australia as a journalist who made his living primarily by appearing in Japanese TV commercials as a sumo.
It unnerves a good many Americans, too, and for the same reason. Unfortunately, we’re outshouted by the herds of slack-jawed mouthbreathers of the revival tent, the faux patriots in the Chamber of Commerce, and the crapulous bellicosity of the American Legion.
If there is anyone I have not offended by the previous paragraph, I apologize.
I’ll jump in with something relatively inoccuous before this thread has
to be moved to another forum…
Mark Rosenfelder, sick of hearing that the US had no culture, wrote
up a list of things that distinguish an American from folks from other
coutries. http://zompist.com/amercult.html
Ok, now it’s time for the longest response in history. Blame all the quote boxes.
I take objection to nearly everything on those lists; I was born in America and still live in America, but if you go by this list of “American culture” I am certainly not an American, which doesn’t really bother me.
Also, it’s interesting to note that the words “culture” and “cult” have the same root.
No.
You’re familiar with David Letterman, > Mary Tyler Moore> , Saturday Night Live, > Bewitched> , the Flintstones, Sesame Street, > Mr. Rogers> , > Bob Newhart> , Bill Cosby, Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Donald Duck, > the Fonz, Archie Bunker, Star Trek, the Honeymooners, the Addams Family, the Three Stooges, and Beetle Bailey.
I don’t know the ones I’ve bolded. I’ve heard of them before but I have no idea who they are or what they do. I’m definately not “familiar” with them, probably because I don’t watch television. The only ones I’d really consider myself “familiar” with are the cartoons, which I was exposed to growing up.
You know how baseball, basketball, and American football are played.
I don’t know how any of them are played. I believe they are all frivolous and violent and utterly stupid and a waste of money and time.
If you’re male, you can argue intricate points about their rules.
Hahahahahaha. Uh, no.
On the other hand (and unless you’re under about 20), you don’t care that much for soccer.
This much is true.
You count yourself fortunate if you get three weeks of vacation a year.
That, too.
You’re fairly likely to believe in God; if not, you’ve certainly been approached by people asking whether you know that you’re going to Heaven.
Yes.
You think of McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC etc. as cheap food.
No.
You probably own a telephone and a TV.
I own neither. I first used a telephone when I was 15.
Your place is heated in the winter and has its own bathroom.
Heated, yes. Own bathroom, no.
You do your laundry in a machine.
I do now, but I didn’t used to. I know how to hand wash laundry.
You don’t kill your own food.
I used to, large portions of my family still do.
You don’t have a dirt floor.
Same as above.
You eat at a table, sitting on chairs.
I do now, but I never did growing up.
You don’t consider insects, dogs, cats, monkeys, or guinea pigs to be food.
Anymore.
The train system, by contrast, isn’t very good. Trains don’t go any faster than cars; you’re better off taking a plane.
I’ve traveled by train (twice) more than plane (never).
World War II was a just war, and (granted all the suffering of course) ended all right. It was a time when the country came together and did what was right. And instead of insisting on vengeance, the US very generously rebuilt Europe instead, with the Marshall Plan.
No war is a just war. God is a God of love and peace and kindness, not murder. http://www.quaker.org
If a man has sex with another man, he’s a homosexual.
That’s approaching common sense and has little to do with being an American in particular…
Once you’re introduced to someone (well, besides the President and other lofty figures), you can call them by their first name.
No. I believe it is my religious duty to call everyone by their first name and not use wordly titles for anyone, including George Bush.
You’d rather a film be subtitled than dubbed (if you go to foreign films at all).
I don’t go to any films.
Just about any store will take your credit card.
I’ve never had a credit card.
You like your bacon crisp (unless it’s Canadian bacon, of course).
I don’t eat dead animals.
Labor Day is in the fall.
I don’t celebrate holidays because I believe God has called us to treat each and every day as holy as the next, and not to set aside certain days as more holy than others (“holiday” = “holy day”).
You find a two-party system natural.
Uh, no I don’t. Speak for yourself please.
You expect the politicians of both parties to be responsive to business, strong on defense, and concerned with the middle class.
Uh, no? I’m stopping right there–I must not be an American!
edited because some of the quotes were messed up…imagine that
I’m willing to bet you’re a statistical outlier, Cran. We already know you
are not “of the world”, I assume that includes America. The spirit of
the document is to figure out the common cultural denominator
experienced by the majority. e.g., Obviously, there are farmers in
America, but they are so few compared to the overall population, that
chances are none (or maybe only a couple) of them will ever read the
document in question.
What I find interesting about this document, and the linked “cultural
tests” of other countries, is that it shows an American that views he
may think obvious or takes for granted are not worldwide. For
example, in America we consider you a homosexual if you have sex
w/ other men (or at least, want to). If you read some of the other
countries’ cultural tests, such as Brazil’s, to a foreigner it may depend
on one’s position in the … um … coupling. Or it may be forgiven as
long as the majority of sex the man has is with women.
