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I could have phrased that better. I see this quite a bit with friends who were not born here, they are less likely to take the fight to the idiots. I understand why. There's so little intelligence to go around in a massive part of the UK population, it really helps if you've grown up here because the idiots don't get to tell you that you don't belong enough to have a low opinion of England.
I don't mean to single you out for criticism, it just seemed that you are being thoughtful respecting people you disagree with. That's not my approach, not for age or experience or illness.
Anyone who thinks that England is better in any way than the rest of the world needs to be told to pipe down. Not in the Olympics or engineering or language or philosophy or fighting or any other matter are we a universally superior country. So those opinions can get in the sea. Nationalism and a national identity is no use to make a success out of a country so it's not much use to me.
Yes, it was used to dismantle colonialism but it wasn't the successful part of it, countries just had to work to shape the economic and cultural life of the country and that had everything to do with recognising and building bridges with other nations, collaborating through trade, science and culture.
I was just suggesting that you have not yet reached the point where you are confident enough to tell English idiots that to their face based on what you had said about respecting different opinions.
Airhead-
Nationalism and a national identity is no use to make a success out of a country so it's not much use to me.
Interesting. Can I ask how you’ve come to this conclusion? Larger nations like the US, Mexico and Brazil seem to rely on a shared national identity for their development, which is contrary to your theory. I’m interested in learning more about post-national options though.
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I did grow up here, and no-one gets to tell me that I don't belong. If you think I don't feel confident enough to tell people that to their face, you're wrong :)
Sure I do try and respect those I disagree with - I don't see that as a negative.However I'm not holding back out of lack of confidence, I genuinely do think national identity - as a widespread social construct that people to varying degrees hold close to their own sense of identity - is more complex than just thinking England is better than the rest of the world.
And I do think reducing it down to that is dangerous in the wider sense because it gives many people no room for their own identity. I do think if we had a healthier understanding and discussion about what being English or what being British could be, in all its various forms, perhaps we wouldn't be in this situation. You say there's little intelligence to go round - I believe treating people as if they're unintelligent is more to blame, unfortunately that's something that has built up over decades.
Adhiero
hoefla
I actually don't have many strongly held opinions, but I don't follow where you get this from:
I don't think I'd be posting in this thread at all if I didn't have enough confidence.
Is all patriotism petty? Is there any other kind of nationalism except that which asserts superiority over foreigners?