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Which is just an idea peddled by people it suits.
Is that really all it is? I agree the media and the politicians have a lot to answer for (don't they always) but is that really all there is to it?
For me personally "being English" and my relationship to that is something I've had to grapple with quite a lot. I know others who take it completely for granted and never question it, and others who feel absolutely no connection with it and consider it utterly irrelevant. It's a construct, but it still matters.
hoefla-
You don't seem to have the confidence to stand up for your opinions. That's fine. It just happens that I think small minded patriotism is a sign of intellectual weakness and I'm happy to call that out when I encounter it.
I wouldn't bother to defend nationalism, the core support seems to be petty patriotism and beliefs held by people without much experience of the wider world. It's a dog whistle for idiots.
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I think so. I don't feel at all English despite being born and living here all my life.
To me England means countryside, driving to the pub (and presumably driving home half drunk), a suspicion of 'people not from round here' etc. I don't identify with any of that.
When there are forms that ask if I am English/Scottish/Welsh/other I tick other and write in Londoner. I expect someone who identifies as Scottish might do something similar if the form had an option for British/other.
For what it's worth, which I'm aware is little, I don't even identify England as a nation. To be a nation you need international recognition with things like UN seats and embassies. We should have a UK national football team for all events, not just the Olympics.
(And our football leagues should be local so supporters can go to all the home and away games with a smaller carbon footprint)
Airhead
jellybaby
Which is just an idea peddled by people it suits. I live in London and have very little in common with the good people of Worcestershire but a lot more in common with the folks of Glasgow and Brussels. Sadly the combination of numbers and our voting system means the little Englanders get all the power.